Martyrdom of senior Lebanese Hezbollah commander

Hezbollah said in a statement today (Monday) that the martyr Haitham al-Tabatabaei, a senior military commander of the group who was martyred on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beirut’s southern suburb (Dahiyeh), will be laid to rest today.

According to Rokna, Hezbollah further called on the people of Lebanon to attend this ceremony as well as the funerals of two other members who were martyred in the same airstrike.

Earlier, Hezbollah had announced in a statement that four of its members were martyred in Sunday’s Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut’s Dahiyeh.

Previously, a Lebanese security source told Al Jazeera that the martyr al-Tabatabaei was the group’s military commander after the martyr Fouad Shukr, who was assassinated last year.

This assassination has heightened tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli regime. The regime had not targeted the southern suburb since last June, and no Hezbollah official of this senior level had been assassinated since the ceasefire was established.

Following the assassination, Mahmoud Qomati, deputy head of Hezbollah’s Political Council, stressed that all options are on the table for responding to this Israeli attack, stating that Hezbollah will examine the matter and ultimately make the appropriate decision.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also called on the international community to fulfill its responsibility and intervene strongly and seriously to stop the Israeli regime’s aggressive attacks on Lebanon and its people, in order to prevent any deterioration that could return the region to heightened tensions.

In contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that martyr al-Tabatabaei was leading Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm itself, asserting that Israel would never allow Hezbollah to pose a threat to its security.

Simultaneously, the Israeli army launched unannounced military drills at the senior command level of the General Staff in the eastern Galilee region to simulate the outbreak of war and crisis management.

Army radio announced that the regime’s missile defense systems in northern occupied territories have been placed on full alert.

A military spokesperson for the regime stated that the drills in eastern Galilee will continue over the next two days with the aim of assessing and enhancing the army’s readiness to confront various scenarios, adding that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir is overseeing the exercises.

According to the Hebrew-language outlet, during the two-day drills, the readiness of the 210th Division—responsible for securing the occupied Golan Heights and other occupied areas in Syria—as well as the capability of the senior military command to assess the situation and make decisions at all levels, including force preparedness and management in conflict zones, will be tested. The occupied Golan Heights and northern occupied Palestine will witness Israeli military activities, including explosions and drone flights.