Hezbollah will not retaliate against Israel despite Iranian calls for 'revenge'

Assassination of top commander in Beirut marks Israel’s most severe blow in a year, but Hezbollah has few real options to retaliate

Hezbollah officials have said the group remains "committed to the ceasefire" with Israel and will not respond to recent attacks, after Iranian calls for revenge over the killing of a senior commander of the Lebanese group.

A political figure and a member of parliament who did not want to be identified told The National that the death of the commander is a “natural outcome” of the confrontation with Israel and does not require immediate action.

The National also spoke with a senior Iranian diplomat in the Middle East, responsible for relations with Hezbollah, who reiterated that the group “makes its own decisions”. He was speaking after the calls from other Iranian officials for retaliation.

Hezbollah confirms strike on Beirut killed senior leader

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Hezbollah, which receives financial and military support from Iran, is facing its most serious crisis since the group was established by Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the 1980s. The heavily armed group has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel, losing its leader, a possible successor, military commanders, fighters and weapons.

Despite a ceasefire that began a year ago, on November 27, Israel has continued assassinating Hezbollah operatives and striking mostly civilian targets inside Lebanon, killing more than 125 people.

Hezbollah has not responded, aware that any retaliation could spark a large-scale Israeli response that could further devastate the group and Lebanon as a whole. The group has also been broken on the intelligence front, and it knows it cannot afford to go to war with Israel, given the security breach it is still suffering from.

On Monday, Israel killed Haitham Ali Tabatabai, commander of Hezbollah's forces, in an air strike on a suburb of Beirut. The assassination marked Israel’s most significant breach of the ceasefire to date.

“The resistance remains committed to the ceasefire,” affirmed the Hezbollah MP.

He said the group supports calls by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun for “the enemy’s withdrawal from the areas it occupies and the halt of its attacks”, despite the move effectively being based on a proposal to hold negotiations with Israel, something that Hezbollah has reservations about.

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  Hezbollah members carry the coffin of senior commander Haitham Ali Tabatabai while chanting political slogans during his funeral procession in Beirut on Monday. Getty Images

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  A large number of Hezbollah supporters were in attendance. EPA

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  Hezbollah fighters raise their flags. EPA

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  Mr Tabatabai, 57, is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed by Israel since the start of a ceasefire in November 2024. AP

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  Hezbollah called him 'the great commander' and said he was killed in 'a treacherous Israeli attack'. Getty Images

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  Female Hezbollah members in mourning during the funeral procession. Getty Images

It is unclear whether these comments mark yet another shift in the group’s position, given that Mr Aoun has been pushing to advance an army plan to completely disarm Hezbollah, another effort that the group firmly rejects.

It is also unclear yet whether the contradictory statements between Hezbollah and Iranian officials indicate any difference in approach or interests, with the group long seen as part of Tehran’s military strategy in the Middle East.

Hezbollah's political source echoed the same sentiment as the MP, downplaying Iranian calls for “revenge” over the killing of Tabatabai.

“The fall of a senior commander is a natural outcome in this confrontation with the enemy. The commander had fulfilled his duties long before the Gaza war, throughout the war, and up to the present,” he said.

“Whether there is retaliation or not, whether ambiguity is maintained, and the resistance’s decision not to respond, all these factors serve Lebanon’s position. The political authorities should make good use of this to strengthen their political and diplomatic stance."

The two officials spoke after the IRGC called for “revenge” following the killing of Hezbollah’s top military commander.

“The right of the Axis of Resistance and Lebanese Hezbollah to avenge the blood of the brave fighters of Islam is unquestionable,” the IRGC said, referring to Iran-backed armed groups in the region.

Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made similar remarks, calling for confrontation with Israel. “They have achieved what they desired, but [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu continues his adventures until everyone realises that no path remains except to confront this fabricated entity,” Mr Larijani said.

'No request'

However, a senior Iranian diplomat said that Tehran does not dictate Hezbollah’s actions and will not push the group to retaliate.

“Iran did not intervene when Hezbollah was attacked, just as Hezbollah did not intervene when Iran was attacked. This is the true nature of the relationship between the two — contrary to what is promoted politically and in the media, that Hezbollah is subordinate to Iran or simply follows orders," he said.

“Hezbollah makes its own decisions, even though consultation naturally takes place among resistance factions in the region. But each actor ultimately has its independent decision on how and when to act."

Post-ceasefire strikes halt Lebanon’s recovery

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A US-brokered ceasefire ended 12 days of war between Iran and Israel in June, but both sides have since issued belligerent remarks. The conflict marked the first direct confrontation between the countries. Until then, fighting had been carried out between Israel and Tehran’s regional proxies, including Hezbollah, Houthi rebels in Yemen and, to a lesser extent, militia groups in Iraq.

The strike on Sunday hit an apartment building in a busy area of Beirut. It came after about five months of calm in the city’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, following an Israeli attack in June.

Mr Netanyahu's office said the Prime Minister ordered the attack on the recommendation of Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and army chief Eyal Zamir. “Israel is determined to act to achieve its objectives everywhere and at all times,” the office clarified.

Tabatabai had risen in rank during Israel’s war with Hezbollah, which killed most of the group’s top officials. Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader since 1992, and several of his senior allies.

The Iranian diplomat reiterated his position on how Hezbollah operates, returning to the events that followed the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing hundreds of Israelis and abducting others. Israel responded with a brutal campaign that destroyed much of the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including thousands of women and children.

“After October 7, Sayyed Nasrallah’s view was that fully entering the war to support Gaza would encourage the US itself to enter the war and occupy Lebanon. That’s why he chose the option of limited support warfare,” he explained.

“From the outset, he believed it was better for Iran not to intervene, and of course for the US not to intervene in the war.

"There was no Iranian request for Hezbollah to intervene, strike, or expand its operations. This was Hezbollah’s own decision. We also did not ask him to leave Lebanon or stay. Remaining in Lebanon was a decision he made personally.”