It “has the right to respond” at the appropriate time to that of its military leader, said the head of the Lebanese movement Naim Kassem.
The killing of Haitham Ali Tabtabai on Sunday in an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian group, “constitutes a blatant attack,” Naim Kassem said in a speech broadcast by Hezbollah-controlled Al Manar TV.
“Let the Israeli enemy and those who are with him understand this as they wish. It is our right to respond, and we will decide when” to do so, he added.
Hezbollah says it has been observing the ceasefire that ended its last war with Israel for a year.
Who was Tabtabhai and what does his killing signify?
The military leader was killed while “he was in a meeting” with four of his aides to “prepare a future action,” Sheikh Qassem said.
Haitham Ali Tabtabai is the most senior Hezbollah official to be killed since the end of the war on November 27, 2024, during which many of the Shiite group’s leaders were killed by Israel, including its powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah.
His killing comes at a time when Israel has stepped up attacks on Lebanese soil despite the ceasefire, saying it is targeting members or infrastructure of Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming, something the Shiite movement denies.
On Monday, the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, demanded “revenge” for the killing of Haitham Ali Tabtabhai.
