Who was Haytham Ali Tabtabai, Hezbollah's military leader killed by Israel?

Hezbollah's top military official, Haytham Ali Tabtabai was killed on Sunday by the Israeli military in a strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital.

Lebanese security sources has confirmed his death saying he was a target of Israel's strike.

Israel had already eliminated most of Iran-backed Hezbollah's leadership during a war that raged between October 2023 and November 2024, when a US-brokered truce was agreed.

Who was Haytham Ali Tabtabai?

According to Lebanese security forces, Haytham Ali Tabtabai was born in Lebanon. His father has Iranian roots and his mother is Lebanese. He was not a founding member of Hezbollah but was part of its "second generation," deploying with the group to fight alongside its allies in Syria and Yemen.

He joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and held senior posts, including in its Radwan Force.

During last year's war, Tabtabai led Hezbollah's operations division and rose in rank as other top commanders were eliminated, the Israeli military's statement said.

After the ceasefire came into force, he was appointed chief of staff and "worked extensively to restore their readiness for war with Israel."

The Alma Center, a security research and teaching organisation in Israel, said Tabtabai had survived other Israeli attacks both in Syria and during the war in Lebanon.

(With Reuters inputs)