News Digest — 11/24/25
IDF Confirms: Hezbollah Military Chief Haytham Ali Tabataba’i Was Eliminated In A Sunday Afternoon Airstrike In Beirut
The IDF confirmed on Sunday (23rd) that, guided by the Intelligence Directorate, it struck in the area of Beirut and eliminated the terrorist Haytham Ali Tabataba’i, Hezbollah’s Chief of General Staff.
Tabataba’i was a key operative and veteran in the terrorist organization. He joined its ranks in the 1980s and has since held a series of senior positions, including commanding the ‘Radwan Force’unit and serving as the head of Hezbollah’s operations in Syria. During his role in Syria, he further entrenched Hezbollah’s capabilities there.
During the war, he was appointed commander of the organization’s operations array and was responsible for consolidating the operational picture and force build-up. During Operation “Northern Arrows,” after most of the military leadership was neutralized, he was effectively responsible for managing the combat against Israel.
At the end of operation “Northern Arrows,” Tabataba’i was appointed Hezbollah’s Chief of General Staff, and in this role, he led efforts to rebuild the organization. He commanded most of Hezbollah’s units and worked extensively to restore their readiness for war with Israel.
Throughout his years in Hezbollah, Tabataba’i developed and expanded Hezbollah’s capabilities. He also played a significant role in developing the Radwan Unit. He was part of Hezbollah’s senior leadership and, due to his connections and abilities, served as a significant source of knowledge and influence within Hezbollah.
The IDF pledged that it “will act against efforts to rebuild and rearm the Hezbollah terrorist organization and will operate to remove any threat posed to Israeli civilians.”
At the same time, the military stressed that it “remains committed to the understandings reached between the State of Israel and Lebanon.”
On Sunday (23rd). The Israeli Prime MInister’s Office confirmed that the target of the strike in the Lebanese capital was Hezbollah Chief of Staff Haytham Ali Tabataba’i who ranks second in the terror organization’s chain of command, second only to the Secretary General, Naim Qassem. “A short while ago, in the heart of Beirut, the IDF attacked the Hezbollah Chief of Staff, who had been leading the terrorist organization’s build-up and rearmament. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the attack upon the recommendation of the Defense Minister and the IDF Chief of Staff. Israel is determined to act to achieve its objectives everywhere and at all times,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
Tabataba’i was one of the most senior commanders in the terror organization in recent years. After the senior chain of command was eliminated, he became the organization’s acting chief of staff and its most senior military figure.
Tabataba’i was wanted by the United States, with the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.
Defense Minister Katz commented on the strike. “We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the State of Israel. Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have his hand cut off. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are determined to continue the policy of maximum enforcement in Lebanon and anywhere else. We will not allow a return to the reality of before October 7.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun responded to the strike: “The Israeli strike in Dahieh is further proof that Israel does not heed the repeated calls to halt its attacks. We once again call on the international community to assume its responsibility and intervene to stop the attacks in Lebanon and against its people. Israel refuses to implement international resolutions and rejects all efforts and initiatives proposed to end the escalation and restore stability.”
The IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir oversaw the strike in Dahieh from the Senior Command Post at the “Kirya” (Rabin) Base. together with the Head of the Operations Directorate, MG Itzik Cohen; the Head of the Operations Division, BG Yisrael Shomer; the Head of the Operations Brigade, MG Meni Liberty; and additional commanders.
“We struck the most senior commander in the Hezbollah terrorist organization. The strike was intended to prevent the organization from further strengthening its capabilities and to deliver a precise blow to those who attempt to harm the State of Israel,” Zamir stated during the strike.
He added, “The IDF remains committed to the understandings agreed upon between the State of Israel and Lebanon, but we will not allow the Hezbollah terrorist organization to strengthen or rearm, and we will act to remove any threat to the civilians of the State of Israel.”
On Saturday (22nd), the IDF eliminated Kamel Reza Kamabsh, a Hezbollah operative active in the Meifadon area of southern Lebanon. According to the IDF, the terrorist had been working to rebuild the organization’s activities in the region.
In another strike led by the 91st Division, another Hezbollah terrorist was eliminated in the area of the village of Khoula.
The IDF noted that the terrorist served as a local Hezbollah representative and was responsible for managing relations between the organization and local residents on military and economic matters, including the takeover of private property for terror purposes.
Hamas Threatens To Target Gaza International Stabilization Force – Khaled Abu Toameh
• Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other Palestinian terror groups have rejected UN Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted on November 17, which welcomes the establishment of a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza.
• Hamas claims it agreed only to the first phase of Trump’s plan, which calls for an end to the war and the release of all the hostages – alive and deceased – within 2 hours. That was on October 9: now, weeks have passed and the remains of three hostages are still being held.
• Recently, the terror group’s leaders said they never agreed to the remaining phases of the plan, which require the armed groups to lay down their weapons and accept the deployment of an international force, as well as the establishment of a temporary international governing body.
• By rejecting Resolution 2803, the Palestinian terror groups are making it clear that they have no intention of disarming or allowing Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to play any role in the governance of Gaza. The only reason the terror groups agreed to the first phase of Trump’s plan was so that the war would end and they could maintain their rule over Gaza.
• Fayez Abu Shamala, a pro-Hamas Gaza academic, noted on November 18 an intention to target members of the international force: “The Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza will deal with the American stabilization force just as the Afghan mujahideen dealt with the US forces in 2001, and just as the Iraqi insurgents dealt with the invading American forces in 2003, and just as the resistance dealt with the US Embassy in Lebanon in 1984. The stabilization force will be targeted by the Palestinian insurgents.”
• Even if the international troops sent to Gaza are granted a clear mandate to use force to disarm the terror groups and dismantle their military infrastructure, not one of them will use it. No one wants to get shot at, especially when, as the world has seen for years with UN forces in Lebanon, it is so much easier to look the other way, or even be rewarded for helping a terror group reconstruct its power.
The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
How Israel’s Victory Strengthens America’s Hand – Zineb Riboua
The calculations of Middle Eastern regimes are based on concrete questions: who commands intelligence superiority, who can blunt Iranian power, and who remains anchored in the American security system. By those measures, Israel has become indispensable. Its performance on the battlefield and its record in covert operations have only reinforced its value to governments that prioritize their own survival and long-term modernization.
Israel’s military successes against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran have made it a more valuable strategic partner. States that face Iranian pressure or seek technological and security upgrades are not distancing themselves from Israel, but moving closer.
CENTCOM, which coordinates US military activity in the Middle East, is deepening operational coordination between the IDF and Arab armies – including those of countries that don’t have formal relations with Israel. Regional leaders saw the disruption of Iranian assets in five countries, and concluded that Israeli hard power mastered much more than the opinions of Islamic preachers or Western university students.
Israel has shown itself to be the one power both capable of rolling back Iran and willing to do so. Even the American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities were made possible by Israeli intelligence and by attacks that neutralized Iran’s air defenses and decapitated its military. Israel’s actions matter for America, too, which needs Israel more than ever to help it keep Iran in check and to anchor its efforts to counter China in the region.
The writer is a research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East.
Netanyahu Stresses Israel ‘Responsible For Its Own Security ‘ In Gaza Amid Ceasefire Crisis
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly rejected the idea that Israel requires approval for military action in his statement to the Security Cabinet Sunday (23rd).
“All the talk that ‘we must receive approvals for this’ from one source or another is simply an absolute lie,” Netanyahu said.
“We operate independently of anyone. Immediate actions to thwart attacks are taken by the IDF automatically. As for the responses, that goes through the Defense Minister and eventually reaches me, and we decide independently of any factor, and that is how it should be.”
Addressing the strikes in Lebanon, Netanyahu emphasized the IDF’s commitment to “do everything necessary to prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing its threat capability against us.”
“This is also what we are doing in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu added, claiming that Hamas has continuously violated the ceasefire and attempted to cross the Yellow Line in attempts to harm the IDF, For which he said Israel has exacted “a very heavy price.”
Netanyahu’s address to the Cabinet began with a brief commemoration of the late Netanya Mayor Miriam Feinberg, highlighting her achievements and asking for a moment of silence, before he went on to discuss the IDF’s strikes against terrorism this weekend.
Trump To Designate Muslim Brotherhood As Foreign Terrorist Organization – Report
US President Donald Trump plans to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terror organization, he told Just the News on Sunday (23rd).
“It will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms,” he said. “The final documents are being drawn.”
According to Just the News, Trump has been planning the move since his first term as president.
In an address following the IDF’s killing of Hezbollah’s second-in-command and military commander, Haytham Ali Tabataba’i on Sunday afternoon (23rd), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his reported plans to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror group.
“I commend President Trump for outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood. This is an organization that endangers stability in the Middle East and beyond. That is why the State of Israel has outlawed the organization and will continue to do so,” he said.
The Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP) also welcomed Trump’s announcement, commending the fact that the “threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology is now being taken seriously,” in a Sunday (23rd) statement.
The ISGAP previously revealed a 200-page report detailing the Muslim Brotherhood’s “ideological campaign to exploit American and other Western allied nations for its freedom and undermine democratic practices and culture from within.”
ISGAP is dedicated to researching and combating the global rise of anti-Semitism through high-caliber scholarship, informing both academia and policy-makers.
“A formal US designation would represent an important first step to confront the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,” the statement continued. “This will require sustained, evidence-based-policy, serious scrutiny of its affiliated structures and funding streams, and long-term investment in democratic resilience.”
Trump’s declaration comes days after Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced he would designate the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.
“The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long-made their goals clear, to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott said in a press release.
“The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable.”
