Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered in Beirut on Monday for the funeral of senior military commander Haytham Tabtabai, a day after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike—the first such strike on the Lebanese capital since June.
The burial of Tabtabai, whom the Israeli military described as Hezbollah’s chief of staff, took place in a cemetery for the group’s fighters south of Beirut. The strike, which killed five and wounded 28, has significantly heightened regional tensions just over a year after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
Mourners at the funeral voiced defiance. “No matter how much blood is shed, we will never surrender, and we will never hand over the weapons of the resistance,” said one supporter, Fatima Shehadeh.
The strike has drawn international concern, with France’s Foreign Ministry expressing “deep concern” over the potential for escalation and urging parties to use established ceasefire monitoring mechanisms instead of taking “unilateral actions.”
The incident occurs amid intensified Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and increased U.S. and Israeli pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, which Israel accuses of rebuilding its military capabilities.
By James Kisoo
