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

Hezbollah officials have said the group remains "committed to the ceasefire" with Israel and will not respond to recent attacks, after Iran called 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 being considered as 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 calls from other Iranian officials for retaliation.

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 Lebanese 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.

The funeral of Hezbollah commander Haitham Ali Tabatabai, who was killed by an Israeli strike. 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.