Israel kills senior Hezbollah official, 4 others in strike on Beirut

Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon's capital for the first time since June, saying it targeted Hezbollah’s chief of staff and warned the Iran-backed militant group to not rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war.

- By Fadi Tawil AND KAREEM CHEHAYEB

The strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed five people and wounded 25 others, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. Hezbollah confirmed the death of its chief of staff, Haytham Tabtabai. Earlier it said the strike, launched almost exactly a year after a ceasefire ended the war, threatened an escalation of attacks — just days before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon on his first foreign trip.

“We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. The military instructed residents in northern Israel near the Lebanese border to continue with daily routines, indicating that it did not anticipate a military response from Hezbollah.