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Hezbollah Vows Right to Respond After Israeli Strike Kills Senior Commander

Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said the group has the right to respond after an Israeli strike killed senior commander Haytham Ali Tabtabai in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Qassem called the killing "a blatant aggression and a heinous crime," warned that war with Israel is possible though not certain, and urged Lebanon to prepare a plan relying on its army and people. Israel criticized Lebanese efforts to disarm Hezbollah, while at least 13 people were reported killed in a separate strike on a refugee camp.

02:02 AM, 11/29/2025Conflict
Hezbollah Vows Right to Respond After Israeli Strike Kills Senior Commander

Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said the group retains the right to respond after an Israeli strike last week killed senior commander Haytham Ali Tabtabai in Beirut’s southern suburbs. In a televised address, Qassem condemned the killing as "a blatant aggression and a heinous crime" and said Hezbollah will decide the timing of any retaliation.

"We have the right to respond, and we will determine the timing for that," Qassem said.

Speaking on Friday, Qassem said a renewed war with Israel remained possible but was not inevitable. "Do you expect a war later? It’s possible, sometime. Yes, this possibility is there, and the possibility of no war is also there," he said, without detailing what role Hezbollah would play in any wider conflict.

Qassem urged Lebanon to prepare a plan to confront Israeli actions that would rely on "its army and its people." He also expressed hope that an upcoming papal visit to Lebanon could help ease tensions and contribute to de-escalation.

The deputy leader insisted Hezbollah had observed the November 2024 ceasefire intended to halt more than a year of fighting with Israel and demanded an end to ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory. He said Tabtabai was meeting with four aides "to prepare for future actions" when the strike hit.

Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee responded on X that the Lebanese army’s efforts to seize Hezbollah weaponry in the country’s south were "inadequate," accusing Hezbollah of manipulating the army to retain its arsenal.

Hezbollah has repeatedly said it will not relinquish its arms while Israel continues to conduct strikes on Lebanese soil and maintains forces at five positions across southern Lebanon. Israel has carried out near-daily strikes in southern Lebanon and has attacked Beirut several times; however, before last week’s assassination the capital had not been hit for months.

Separately, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health reported that at least 13 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon last week.

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