Israel’s Strike on Hezbollah: The IDF killed Hezbollah’s “de facto chief of staff” and senior commander Haitham Ali Tabatabai in Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 23. Tabatabai’s death will likely disrupt Hezbollah’s reconstitution for a short period because of Tabatabai’s significant experience at many echelons of command in fighting against Israel and engaging with Hezbollah’s Syrian partners. CTP-ISW has identified multiple ways in which Hezbollah may respond to Israel’s killing of Tabatabai.
LAF Disarmament: An unspecified senior IDF official told Israeli media on November 24 that the IDF must work to degrade Hezbollah to a point where the LAF is militarily stronger than Hezbollah, which would presumably enable the LAF to disarm it with greater ease. IDF officials told Israeli media on November 24 that Israel is on the verge of launching a “short, preemptive operation” to deter Hezbollah and degrade the group’s capabilities.
Sectarian Violence in Syria: Unknown actors attempted to instigate sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Alawites in Homs City, but the responses of local security forces and residents contained the violence and prevented its spread or intensification.
Iraqi Government Formation: Iraqi Sunni political parties are continuing intra-ethnic negotiations regarding government formation, including the election of the parliament speaker. Progress Party leader Mohammad al Halbousi is reportedly negotiating alliances with other Arab-majority Sunni political parties and will be elected as parliament speaker.
Iran Update, November 24, 2025 (Institute for the Study of War)
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