Israel attacks Beirut, targets Hezbollah chief of staff

The IDF said Haitham Ali Tabataba'i was killed in the strike.

ByDavid Brennan
Last Updated: November 23, 2025, 4:56 PM EST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials reiterated their intention to block future Palestinian statehood ahead of the United Nations Security Council vote to authorize the U.S. plan for post-war Gaza on Monday.

There are three remaining deceased hostages in Gaza. Israeli authorities have been releasing the bodies of Palestinians in exchange for the return of hostage remains.

The ceasefire is broadly holding in Gaza, with Israeli forces inside the strip having pulled back to the so-called "yellow line." Still, renewed Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians in the past week.

Elsewhere, Israel is continuing strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and on Sunday launched an airstrike in the capital Beirut. The Israel Defense Forces is also continuing raids in parts of the occupied West Bank.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Nov 23, 2025, 1:06 PM EST

Strike in Lebanon killed Hezbollah chief of staff, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it killed Hezbollah Chief of Staff Haitham Ali Tabataba'i in its strike on southern Beirut earlier Sunday. The strike killed 5 people and injured 28, according to the Lebanon Health Ministry.

In its statement, the IDF said Tabataba'i "commanded most of Hezbollah's units and worked hard to restore them to readiness for war with Israel."

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said earlier Sunday that the Hezbollah chief of staff was the target of the Israeli strike on southern Beirut.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaule

Nov 23, 2025, 12:13 PM EST

5 killed, 28 injured in Israeli strike on Lebanon, says Lebanon Health Ministry

Lebanon's health ministry says the casualty toll resulting from the Israeli strike in southern Beirut on Sunday has risen to five people killed and 28 injured.

The initially reported casualty toll was one killed and 21 injured, according to the Lebanon health Ministry.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz and Victoria Beaule

Nov 23, 2025, 10:52 AM EST

1 killed, 12 injured in Israeli strike on Lebanon, says Lebanon Health Ministry

Lebanon's health ministry says the initial casualty toll of the Israeli strike in southern Beirut is one person killed and 21 injured.

A Hezbollah political official spoke with media at the scene, saying Hezbollah would "decide how to respond to this aggression." He also called negotiations with Israel "a waste of time."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement that this latest strike proves Israel "rejects the implementation of international resolutions and all efforts and initiatives proposed to put an end to escalation and restore stability not only to Lebanon but also to the entire region." The statement further called on the international community to intervene to stop Israel's strikes on Lebanon.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz and Victoria Beaule

Nov 23, 2025, 9:01 AM EST

Beirut strike targeted Hezbollah chief of staff, Netanyahu’s office says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Sunday's airstrike in the Lebanese capital Beirut targeted Hezbollah's chief of staff.

A man looks out from a balcony following an Israeli strike targeting a residential building in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 23, 2025.
Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu's office said the target "led the strengthening and arming of the terrorist organization."

"Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the attack on the recommendation of the minister of defense and the chief of staff," the prime minister's office said.

-ABC News' Anna Burd and Victoria Beaule

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