Israel claimed to have killed Hezbollah’s top military official in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut despite a US-brokered truce a year ago.
The strike, the first on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital in months, targeted Hezbollah’s acting chief of staff, Ali Tabtabai, the military claimed in a statement.
There was no immediate confirmation of his killing from Hezbollah, although senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati confirmed a central figure from the group had been targeted.
Speaking near the bombed-out building in the Haret Hreik suburb, he said Israel’s strike crossed a “red line”. Qmati said Hezbollah’s leadership would decide on whether and how the group would respond.
The United States imposed sanctions on Tabtabai in 2016, identifying him as a key Hezbollah leader and offering a reward of up to $5 million for information on him.
The Israeli military statement claimed Tabtabai “commanded most of Hezbollah’s units and worked hard to restore them to readiness for war with Israel”.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the strike killed five people and wounded 28 more. It hit a multi-storey building, sending debris crashing into cars on the main road below.
People rushed out of their apartment buildings out of fear of further bombardment, a Reuters reporter said.
