Beirut/New York – The United Nations voiced profound alarm on Monday over an Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential building in southern Beirut, resulting in the deaths of five individuals, including Hezbollah's chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabatabai. The attack, which struck the densely populated Haret Hreik neighborhood in the city's southern suburbs—a longstanding Hezbollah stronghold—has intensified fears of a broader regional conflagration, just one year after a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect between Israel and Hezbollah.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric addressed reporters at UN headquarters in New York, describing the incident as deeply troubling. "I can tell you that we are seriously concerned about the deadly Israeli strike on a residential area in southern Beirut," Dujarric stated. He emphasized the imperative for de-escalation, urging "all actors to exercise maximum restraint" and reminding the parties involved that "civilians and civilian areas must not be targeted." Dujarric further underscored the necessity of upholding Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty, calling on both sides to fully implement the ceasefire agreement that commenced on November 27, 2024.
The strike, carried out late Sunday by Israeli Air Force jets, marked the first such assault on Beirut's southern suburbs in over five months, breaching a relative lull in urban operations despite ongoing skirmishes in rural areas. Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health reported that the precision-guided munitions hit the fourth and fifth floors of a 10-story apartment block, killing Tabatabai and four others—believed to be civilians or low-level militants—and wounding at least 28 more, many critically. Rescue teams sifted through rubble for hours, recovering bodies amid twisted metal and shattered concrete, as local residents decried the strike's proximity to homes and schools.
Israel's military swiftly claimed responsibility, hailing the operation as a "precise elimination" of a high-value target. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) identified Tabatabai, 57, as Hezbollah's No. 2 military figure and de facto chief of staff, accusing him of orchestrating the group's rearmament efforts in violation of the ceasefire and UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which mandates a demilitarized zone south of the Litani River. "Haytham Ali Tabatabai was a key operative and veteran in the terrorist organization, responsible for building Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force and commanding operations in Syria and Yemen," an IDF statement read. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed this, labeling Tabatabai a "mass murderer" with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head since 2016, when Washington designated him a global terrorist for his role in cross-border attacks.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militant group, confirmed Tabatabai's martyrdom in a somber statement, mourning him as a "great jihadi leader" and founding member who joined in the 1980s amid Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. Born in Beirut's Bashoura neighborhood to a Lebanese mother and Iranian father, Tabatabai rose through the ranks, playing pivotal roles in confronting Israeli incursions in 1993 and 1996, as well as supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and advising Yemen's Houthis on drone tactics. The group decried the strike as a "treacherous attack" that "crosses a red line," vowing to deliberate on an appropriate response while allies like Palestinian factions and Iraqi militias issued condolences, framing it as part of Israel's "genocidal campaign" against the "Axis of Resistance."
This incident unfolds against a backdrop of mounting tensions in southern Lebanon, where the ceasefire—intended to end over a year of cross-border exchanges that killed thousands and displaced over a million—has frayed amid mutual recriminations. Since November 27, 2024, the Lebanese Health Ministry has tallied at least 331 fatalities and 945 injuries from Israeli fire, predominantly in southern border villages where residents attempting to reclaim homes have clashed with IDF patrols. These figures include unarmed civilians shot during return marches, such as the January 26, 2025, incident in Mays al-Jabal where 22 were killed and 124 wounded as protesters defied Israeli warnings. The ministry attributes most casualties to drone strikes and artillery, often targeting alleged Hezbollah sites but hitting civilian infrastructure like ambulances and refugee camps—most notably the November 18, 2025, raid on Ein el-Hilweh near Sidon, which claimed 13 lives, including 12 children.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), tasked with monitoring the Blue Line—the de facto border—has documented over 10,000 Israeli violations since the truce's inception, encompassing 7,500 airspace incursions by drones and jets, and nearly 2,500 ground breaches, including tank maneuvers and wall constructions in Lebanese territory. Recent UNIFIL reports highlight direct threats to peacekeepers, such as the November 16, 2025, incident where an Israeli Merkava tank shelled a patrol near Dhayra, with rounds landing mere meters away, and an October 26 grenade drop from a drone that injured one observer. "These acts endanger UN personnel and undermine Resolution 1701," UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti warned, noting the recovery of over 360 abandoned Israeli weapons caches handed to Lebanese forces.
Central to the discord is Israel's protracted withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The ceasefire stipulated a full IDF pullout by January 26, 2025—60 days post-truce—to be paralleled by Hezbollah's retreat north of the Litani and the Lebanese Armed Forces' (LAF) deployment of 5,000 troops southward. Yet, Jerusalem cited incomplete LAF enforcement and Hezbollah's lingering presence as justification for delay, extending the deadline to February 18 amid deadly clashes on the original date. As of November 2025, Israeli forces maintain outposts at five strategic hilltops—including in Kfar Kila and Maroun al-Ras—ostensibly to neutralize arms caches, while Beirut accuses Tel Aviv of "occupation" and sabotaging reconstruction. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have convened with allies France and the U.S., demanding UN Security Council intervention to enforce compliance, as over 80,000 remain displaced and infrastructure damage exceeds $10 billion.
Broader geopolitical currents exacerbate the crisis. Hezbollah, decimated by 2024's war—losing leader Hassan Nasrallah and thousands of fighters—resists disarmament demands from the new Lebanese government under Aoun, who pledged to consolidate arms by year's end but fears civil strife. Israel views Tabatabai's elimination as a signal to Beirut: accelerate disarmament or face escalation. Meanwhile, Iran's proxies—from Yemen's Houthis to Iraq's militias—rally in solidarity, while U.S. frustration mounts over stalled talks on prisoner swaps and border demarcation.
UN Special Rapporteur Morris Tidball-Binz condemned the pattern of strikes as potential war crimes, urging independent probes and accountability for attacks on civilians and UNIFIL. As winter sets in, with over 100,000 still homeless and schools shuttered by fear of raids, analysts warn that without swift mediation—potentially via the Quintet (U.S., France, UK, Italy, Qatar)—the truce could unravel, reigniting a conflict that has already scarred generations.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib echoed the UN's plea: "This cycle of violence devours our sovereignty; the world must act the world must act before Beirut becomes a battlefield once more." With Hezbollah mulling retaliation and Israel vowing preemptive strikes, the region teeters on a knife's edge, where one miscalculation could engulf the Levant anew.
