Hezbollah supporters threaten Israel & US at funeral of terror group’s military chief

Thousands of Hezbollah supporters in Beirut’s southern suburbs chanted slogans against Israel and the U.S. on Monday at the funeral of the terrorist group’s military chief Haytham Ali Tabatabai, who was assassinated by Israel on Sunday in a targeted strike.

At least four other Hezbollah operatives were also killed in the strike. Tabatabai was considered number 2 in Hezbollah’s hierarchy and was appointed by the current Hezbollah chief Secretary-General Naim Qassem after most top Hezbollah leaders and commanders were eliminated by Israel in 2024. 

The crowd threatened Israel and the United States while carrying portraits of Hezbollah leaders and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei. The ayatollah regime is Hezbollah’s main financial and military backer. 

Hezbollah announced the deaths of Mustafa Bru, Rifat Hussein and Ibrahim Hussein, who were killed along with Haytham Ali Tabatabai in an Israeli strike in Beirut today. pic.twitter.com/xgA1nfytKf

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) November 23, 2025

“We will not leave our weapons! We will not leave our land!” the funeral attendees chanted, referring to the American-brokered ceasefire in November 2024, which stipulates that Hezbollah must be disarmed as part of a wider plan to stabilize Lebanon. 

Speaking to the Associated Press, the Hezbollah supporter Fatima Shehadeh warned that “no matter how much blood is shed, we will never surrender, and we will never hand over the weapons of the resistance.”

At the funeral of Haytham Ali Tabatabai and his comrades, senior Hezbollah official Ali Damoush lauded the commander's successes and vowed that the group will not be deterred by the killing of its members. pic.twitter.com/cn40l9A4oo

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) November 24, 2025

Hezbollah executive council head Sheikh Ali Daamoush explicitly threatened Israel. 

“The Zionists should be worried, because they’ve committed a grave crime against the resistance and against Lebanon,” Daamoush said. 

“We won’t concern ourselves with any proposals as long as the enemy doesn’t commit to the ceasefire agreement” he continued, referring to the recent Israeli aerial strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. 

The term “resistance” is an Islamist euphemism for opposition to Israel's existence. Like its patron, the ayatollah regime in Tehran, Hezbollah openly calls for the destruction of Israel.

Israel has stressed that its strikes constitute a response to Hezbollah’s current efforts to rearm and regroup in violation of the 2024 ceasefire agreement. The Israeli government and the IDF have vowed that they will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its military capabilities and once again threaten its national security. 

Daamoush also addressed Washington’s pressure on Beirut to disarm Hezbollah in accordance with the ceasefire. 

“It’s the state’s duty to defend its citizens and its sovereignty. The government needs to draw up plans for that and reject foreign diktats and pressure,” the senior Hezbollah official argued.

Hezbollah has so far refused to disarm and continues to operate as a state within the state in Lebanon. 

Following the elimination of Haytham Ali Tabatabai on November 23, below is a mapping of the most senior figures in #Hezbollah’s political, governmental, and military leadership. pic.twitter.com/gEwGmXw1Ep

— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) November 24, 2025

In August, Hezbollah’s current leader, Naim Qassem, dismissed the calls for disarmament, which he claimed served Israeli interests. 

“The imminent danger is the Israeli aggression… this aggression must stop,” Qassem stated at the time.

“All political discourse in the country must be directed toward stopping the aggression, not toward handing over weapons to Israel,” he added.

However, Qassem failed to mention that the war started when Hezbollah launched an unprovoked attack on northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis in southern Israel. 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which arms and funds Hezbollah, condemned Israel’s elimination of the Hezbollah military chief and called for “revenge.” 

The elimination of #Tabatabai is a severe blow to #Hezbollah, but Hezbollah’s core — its “armed resistance” — is an identity, not a capability. Hezbollah will continue to rebuild, strengthen, and preserve its weapons. The Lebanese state and the Lebanese Armed Forces will not… pic.twitter.com/hvHC5WexOC

— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) November 25, 2025

“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 in an official statement. 

However, it is unclear if and how Hezbollah will respond to the Israeli strike. Hezbollah’s military capabilities have been severely degraded and a renewed open conflict with Israel would expose its remaining assets to Israeli strikes. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Hezbollah-affiliated source told AFP that there are “two opinions within the group – those who wish to respond to the assassination and those who want to refrain from doing so – but the leadership tends to adopt the utmost forms of diplomacy at the present stage.”

Hezbollah’s late military chief Tabatabai reportedly played a leading role in the group’s efforts to restore its military strength. Earlier this month, the U.S. undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, John Hurley, revealed that the Islamic Republic of Iran had transferred some $US1 billion to Hezbollah despite the international sanctions on Tehran. 

Following the elimination of Tabatabai, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that Tabatabai “led Hezbollah’s renewed efforts to rearm.”

Netanyahu also stressed that “His hands are soaked in the blood of many Israelis and Americans.” Washington had placed a $5 million bounty on Tabatabai’s head as an internationally designated terrorist. 

The United States expressed support for Israel’s right to self-defense against Hezbollah and other security threats. 

“But of course, the president supports Israel’s right to defend itself and to take out any terrorist threats in the region,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Monday.

Meanwhile, the French Foreign Ministry articulated “deep concern,” arguing that the elimination of Hezbollah’s military chief “increases the risk of escalation in an already highly tense situation.”

“France calls on all sides to exercise restraint,” the foreign ministry in Paris stated. “It emphasizes the importance of using the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, which is designed for reporting threats. This framework, which all sides have recognized, is essential for preventing unilateral actions and ensuring the security of the civilian population in Lebanon and Israel, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement of November 27, 2024."