Tabatabai, the chief of staff of the group’s armed wing, was among at least five people killed in the attack on an apartment block in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh in southern Beirut on Sunday.
In a statement, Hezbollah announced that “the great commander” Tabatabai was killed in “a treacherous Israeli attack on the Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs of Beirut”, without specifying his position within the group.
Tabatabai is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed by Israel since the start of a November 2024 ceasefire aimed at ending over a year of hostilities between the two.
Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati had earlier said that Israel’s strike crossed a “red line” and that the group’s leadership was considering whether it would respond.
“The strike on the southern suburbs today opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon,” he added.
Tabatabai was born in 1968 in Beirut to a Lebanese mother and an Iranian father. He grew up in southern Lebanon and joined Hezbollah at the age of 12.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health announced that the Israeli attack also wounded 28 people.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that two missiles were fired at the apartment building on al-Arid Street in Haret Hreik, and significant damage was inflicted on cars and surrounding buildings.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the international community to intervene firmly to stop the Israeli attacks on the country.
In a statement earlier on Sunday, Aoun stated that Lebanon “reiterates its call to the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people”.
Israel assassinated longtime Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah in an air attack on southern Beirut just over a year ago.