Hezbollah mourns Tabatabai in Beirut amid fears of an Israeli escalation

Thousands of people on Monday attended the funeral for top military commander Haytham Ali Tabtabai’s, a day after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut.

The funeral procession took place in the Ghobeiri area of ​​Beirut, proceeding to the Martyrs' Cemetery. The burial of the slain military commander and two other Hezbollah members took place in a cemetery south of Beirut where the group’s fighters are traditionally laid to rest.

Hezbollah members in fatigues carried the coffins, draped in the group's yellow flags, to the sound of religious chants, an AFP correspondent said.

The crowd yelled slogans against Israel and America, while supporters carried portraits of the group's leaders and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We will not leave our weapons, we will not leave our land!" the mourners chanted. Top Hezbollah political officials attended the funeral in person but it was unclear if any military officials were present.

Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon’s capital for the first time since June, saying it killed Tabtabai. Five people were killed in total and 28 others were injured, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

The latest attack has sparked fears of an Israeli escalation of violence in Lebanon, where Israel has already violated the ceasefire, out in place since November 2024, thousands of times.

Israeli warplanes were flying at low altitude over Beirut and its southern suburbs, as well as over the Bekaa valley, on Monday morning, according The New Arab’s Arabic-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Israeli forces had already targeted the Al-Sadana hill, north of Kfarshouba in southern Lebanon, with artillery fire, as well as Houla and Zalloutieh.

The Israeli army on Monday issued threats of "a disproportionate response" to any attacks by Hezbollah in retaliation to Tabatabai’s killing, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

Israeli security officials said they do not rule out a "response from Syria, the Jordanian border, or an attack against Israelis abroad" by Hezbollah.

The army has reportedly raised the alert level for its air defence systems in northern Israel, in anticipation of a Hezbollah response.

The Iranian-backed group, however, has seldom responded to Israel’s previous ceasefire violations, due to being severely weakened and under pressure to adhere to the terms of the November 2024 truce.

Also on Monday, the Israeli army said it launched a military exercise in the eastern Galilee region, where "active movement of security forces and vehicles will be observed in the area".

Hezbollah acknowledged Tabatabai’s killing and warned Israel had "crossed a red line".

"With immense pride and honour, Hezbollah announces to the resistance and the Lebanese people the martyrdom of the great commander, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, who was martyred in defence of Lebanon and its people as a result of a treacherous Israeli attack on the Haret Hreik neighbourhood in Beirut's southern suburbs," the group said in a statement.

Israel's previous ceasefire violations have killed over 300 Lebanese. These violations have come amid a crucial time for Lebanon, whose government is under intense pressure from Israel and the US to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year, as per the ceasefire’s stipulations.

The attacks also came after President Joseph Aoun stressed the need for a state monopoly on weapons and an agreement with Israel to halt such attacks. Sources who spoke to The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Israel's killing of Tabatabai sends a "message in rejection" of Aoun’s plea.

Over 1,000 Israeli raids on Lebanese soil this year alone

The Israeli army has conducted almost 1,200 ground raids into Lebanon over the past year in continued grave violations of the November 2024 ceasefire, along with frequent air strikes.

The incursions are taking place at a rate of three to five times a day, with soldiers from the Northern Front's Galilee Division penetrating five kilometres into Lebanon and sometimes close to the second line of villages beyond the border, according to a report by Israeli media on Monday.

The scale of these operations around the border, which stretches for around 140 kilometres from the Ras Naqoura area to the occupied Shebaa Farms, has been described as "unprecedented" by Israeli media.

The Israeli army is now preparing to launch a small-scale military operation against Hezbollah aimed at destroying the group's military capabilities, claiming that near-daily strikes on Lebanon have "failed" to deter the Iran-backed group.

These raids, which have taken place in at least 21 southern Lebanese villages, entail "overt and covert patrols, ambushes against Hezbollah members, and the identification and destruction of buildings or tunnels used for military purposes", according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The intensity of the military operations against Hezbollah since 2023 has forced thousands of Lebanese villagers in the south to flee their homes and abandon their farmland. Despite a ceasefire being in place for almost a year, few have returned.