{"id":174,"date":"2025-11-26T18:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/?p=174"},"modified":"2026-02-02T10:15:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T10:15:36","slug":"israel-heightens-air-defense-alert-after-killing-top-hezbollah-commander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/26\/israel-heightens-air-defense-alert-after-killing-top-hezbollah-commander\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel heightens air-defense alert after killing top Hezbollah commander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>JERUSALEM \/ ISTANBUL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israel raised on Monday the alert level of its air-defense system in the north, a day after killing Hezbollah\u2019s top commander Haitham al-Tabtabai in Beirut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe army has decided to raise the alert level of the air-defense system in the north,\u201d Israel\u2019s Army Radio said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the public broadcaster KAN reported that security assessments \u201cdo not expect an exchange of strikes with Hezbollah following the elimination of its chief of staff in Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it added: \u201cIsrael is nevertheless preparing for various possible reactions, such as attacks on Israeli targets abroad or strikes from other fronts like Yemen,\u201d in reference to the Houthis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It noted: \u201cHezbollah\u2019s decision to refrain from responding may be interpreted by Israel as a green light to continue its assassinations, including expanding operations inside Beirut.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn this situation, Hezbollah may opt to respond by targeting Israeli interests abroad,\u201d the broadcaster added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a statement on Sunday, Hezbollah mourned Tabatabai as \u201ca key military commander.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group also reported that four of its members were killed in the Israeli airstrike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Israeli army said early Sunday that it had eliminated Tabatabai in a strike targeting Beirut\u2019s southern suburb despite a ceasefire deal that has been in place since November 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strike on the recommendation of Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, accusing Tabatabai of leading \u201cthe buildup and armament\u201d of Hezbollah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israel has carried out multiple strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut since the ceasefire, most recently in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tensions in southern Lebanon have been mounting for weeks, with the Israeli military intensifying near-daily air raids inside Lebanese territory, claiming to target Hezbollah members and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 331 people have been killed and 945 injured by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, 2024. The UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) also reported more than 10,000 Israeli air and ground violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the ceasefire, the Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon this January, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JERUSALEM \/ ISTANBUL Israel raised on Monday the alert level of its air-defense system in the north, a day after killing Hezbollah\u2019s top commander Haitham al-Tabtabai in Beirut. \u201cThe army has decided to raise the alert level of the air-defense system in the north,\u201d Israel\u2019s Army Radio said. Meanwhile, the public broadcaster KAN reported that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conflict-zones"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}