Israel says Ali Tabatabai was a key Hezbollah strategist who shaped the group’s military operations. (IMAGE: X)

Israel carried out one of its most aggressive strikes inside Beirut in years, killing Hezbollah’s deputy chief and top military commander, Ali Tabatabai.

The operation, conducted deep inside the Lebanese capital, was the first major Israeli strike since the November 2024 ceasefire and the first time the Israeli Air Force targeted a senior Hezbollah figure since the ceasefire.

It was the fifth Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs since a ceasefire agreed in November 2024 after a year of conflict, and comes a week before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon.

In the past, Israel had regularly targeted mid-level Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, especially th

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