Shafaq News - Beirut (Updated at 22:30)

Israel announced the assassination of Haytham Ali Tabatabai on Sunday — the latest in a long series of claims about his fate. The death of Tabatabai, known as Abu Ali Tabatabai, marks the loss of one of Hezbollah’s most seasoned and secretive military commanders.

According to the Israeli Alma Research and Education Center, Tabatabai had been leading Hezbollah’s southern front, taking over the position after the killing of Ali Karaki on September 27, 2024. Born in 1968 to a Lebanese mother and an Iranian father, he is considered part of Hezbollah’s founding generation and one of its most experienced operatives, with a career spanning Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.

Tabatabai oversaw Hezbollah’s Nasr, Aziz, and Badr units — forces operating from Saida to the southern border, including areas south of the Litani River. Before that, he commanded the elite Radwan unit and survived multiple assassination attempts.

No official photograph of Tabatabai had been released until now, adding to the aura surrounding one of Hezbollah’s most elusive commanders.

His role, according to Alma, expanded significantly during the Syrian conflict. He was reportedly involved in building Hezbollah’s military infrastructure near the Golan Heights and survived a 2015 Israeli strike in Quneitra that killed senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah figures. In 2016, he was deployed to Yemen, where he worked alongside Houthi forces and Iran’s Quds Force on training and operational tasks.

The United States designated Tabatabai a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2016 and, in 2018, offered up to $5 million for information on his whereabouts.

Despite repeated reports of his death over the years, Tabatabai continued to resurface in southern Lebanon and remained linked to the Radwan unit, as well as to Hezbollah’s planning for potential operations in the Galilee.