Israel’s dramatic strike on Hezbollah’s chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai in Beirut on Sunday should not come as a particular surprise.

The assassination came after a series of warnings from Jerusalem and Washington that the Israel Defense Forces would intensify its air campaign if Lebanon did not move much more quickly to disarm the Shiite terrorist group.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned publicly that Israel would do whatever was necessary to keep Hezbollah from rearming, after the terror group was battered by the Jewish state last year.

“We expect the Lebanese government to uphold its commitments, namely, to disarm Hezbollah. But it’s clear that we’ll exercise our right to self-defense as stipulated in the ceasefire terms,” said the premier. “We won’t let Lebanon become a renewed front against us, and we’ll do what’s necessary.”

A senior IDF official recently told Channel 12 news that stepped-up airstrikes in recent weeks were a “preview” of what Lebanon would face if it did not enhance its disarmament campaign.

“If the Lebanese army does not disarm Hezbollah and fails to meet the demands of the ceasefire,” said the officer. “Israel, with US backing, will attack Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including in Beirut.”

On Sunday, Israel appeared to make good on those threats, killing Hezbollah’s second-in-command Tabatabai and dramatically escalating already building tensions, apparently with Washington’s blessing.

While there are significant gaps between Israel and the US on Gaza, on Lebanon there seems to be consensus between the allies. They both recognize that the deterrent effects of Hezbollah’s military defeat last year are starting to wear off, and that if another war is to be avoided, both Lebanon’s government and Hezbollah need to take the possibility of a significant Israeli military operation seriously.

A senior American official told Channel 12 Sunday that the US is “pleased with the elimination of the number two in Hezbollah.”

“We think it’s a wonderful thing. Yalla, mazal tov, mabruk,” said the official.

According to the IDF, after the end of the fighting in November 2024, Tabatabai was officially appointed as the military chief of staff in the........

© The Times of Israel