At least five people were killed today and 28 were wounded in an Israeli attack on an apartment block in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, the first attack on Beirut in months. This attack comes just a day after Lebanese Independence Day and ahead of a planned visit by Pope Leo XIV.
Israel said that the attack targeted Hezbollah Chief of Staff Haitham Ali Tabatabai, who the Lebanese media has often referred to as the organization’s “second-in-command.”
The IDF claimed the attack was successful, though Hezbollah has yet to confirm the death of the high-ranking figure. After attacking Lebanon’s capital city and killing several people, Israel claimed it is “committed” to the Lebanese ceasefire.
People inspect a damaged building after an Israeli military strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon on November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the Lebanon ceasefire deal, and in that year, Israel has violated the explicit terms of the agreement many thousands of times, and killed hundreds within Lebanon, including over 114 civilians.
Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati said the results of today’s attack were as yet unknown, but that in targeting such a high-ranking figure, Israel had “crossed a red line.” Hezbollah has yet to fire a single rocket at Israel since the ceasefire went into effect.
There were claims in the Israeli press that the US was informed ahead of the attack, but US officials denied this was the case, saying they were only contacted immediately after the attack. They did, however, say Israel had informed them days ago of a non-specific plan to escalate.
It hasn’t exactly been a secret that Israel intends to escalate the conflict in Lebanon, as they’ve been picking up the rate of strikes, which already were virtually daily against Lebanon, and last week included an attack on a mosque in a refugee camp.
Also noteworthy is that after the attack on the camp, which killed 13 people, and before the attack on Beirut, Israeli officials complained that the US was “restraining” their ability to escalate. As with commitment to the ceasefire, restraint in this case appears to have been severely limited, and there is no indication that the US is actually going to object to the attack on the capital city.
