A masked demonstrator waves a Hezbollah flag during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Beirut on October 20, 2023.
Joseph Eide/AFP via Getty Images
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A masked demonstrator waves a Hezbollah flag during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Beirut on October 20, 2023.
Joseph Eide/AFP via Getty Images
An Israeli airstrike targeting a top commander of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah rocked a Beirut neighborhood on Tuesday.
Israel said the attack was in response to a weekend rocket attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 young people. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack.
Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting for months, much of it concentrated in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Tuesday’s attack in the Lebanese capital has stoked fears of a wider regional war.
We uncover a brief history of Hezbollah, its origins and goals, and who its elusive leader is.
On Tuesday, security sources said an attack hit a southern suburb of Beirut and severely damaged buildings.
Ahmed Al-Kedi/Reuters
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Ahmed Al-Kedi/Reuters
Born during the Civil War
Lebanon’s complex and fragile democracy distributes power along religious sectarian lines. The number of seats any given sect has is proportional to its percentage of the population – the largest groups are Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims.
In 1975, as tensions between various sects intensified and a large influx of Palestinian refugees, mainly Sunnis, occurred, the country fell into a 15-year civil war. During the war, the Israeli army invaded and occupied southern Lebanon twice to combat Palestinian guerrillas who launched attacks on Israel.
Backed by Iran, the most important Shiite power in the region, Hezbollah began as a small Shiite militia during the war and later became the dominant force in the opposition to the Israeli occupation. The group is known for using extreme tactics in its drive to expel Israelis, such as the infamous 1983 suicide bombing attack on an American and French housing military barracks in Beirut that killed some 300 people. Launched the modern era of suicide bombings.
On January 14, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised speech in Kerbet Selm, southern Lebanon.
Mahmoud Zayat/AFP via Getty Images
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On January 14, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised speech in Kerbet Selm, southern Lebanon.
Mahmoud Zayat/AFP via Getty Images
In 1985, Hezbollah (which means “Party of God” in Arabic) issued a manifesto pledging allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader and calling for the destruction of Israel.
After Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon in 1990 and the civil war ended, Hezbollah’s power continued to grow.
Hezbollah has toned down its Islamist political rhetoric, and the group updated its manifesto in 2009 to call for “real democracy”. Today, the organization consists of two main branches: the military branch and the political branch.
Political and military power today
The political wing of Hezbollah has been an influential force in Lebanese politics for more than 30 years. The group maintains a stable representation of elected representatives in parliament and sometimes even becomes the dominant party. Members of Hezbollah have been serving in executive cabinet positions.
Although Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist organization, the party maintains alliances with individuals and groups affiliated with other sects. It also provides a wide range of social services in Lebanon, often meeting citizen needs in areas that the state cannot meet, such as running schools, hospitals and agricultural services.
An Israeli soldier stands in front of a self-propelled howitzer with a target for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on the back of his flak jacket as an artillery unit shells Lebanon in January in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel South.
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“For Hezbollah, their priority has always been to maintain their military role as a sub-state actor within Lebanon,” said Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “Politics has always been used to maintain its independent military. means of status.”
In the three decades since the end of the civil war, Hezbollah’s military capabilities have grown significantly. Today, it is said to be the best-equipped and powerful non-state actor in the region, claiming to have a stockpile of hundreds of thousands of missiles and 100,000 fighter jets, although these figures are disputed. The military power was largely built by Iran, which has provided weapons and funding to Hezbollah for decades.
How Iran fits into this
Experts often describe Hezbollah as an extension of Iran due to the group’s decades of continued financial and military support and its overt allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.
“[Iran] Trained the first cadre of Hezbollah fighters. They help bring their organization and infrastructure together. They have long provided weapons and financial support to Hezbollah and still provide some. Especially on related issues.
But when it comes to domestic issues in Lebanon, Hezbollah is generally able to act independently. “Over the years, the level of trust between Hezbollah and Iran has become so high that when it comes to Lebanese domestic politics, Iran has really allowed Hezbollah to play a leading role and not participate in their decision-making on Lebanese internal politics.”
Hezbollah’s long-time (and elusive) leader
Hezbollah is led by the organization’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah. The Lebanese-born Shiite Muslim cleric first ascended to the top leadership position in 1992, when he was just 32 years old.
Nasrallah successfully led the group’s campaign against Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in the 1990s, culminating in its withdrawal in 2000. figure.
A woman holds a photo of Hassan Nasrallah during a party rally in Baalbek, Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, in 2022.
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Although Nasrallah never held an official position in Lebanon, he remains one of the most powerful figures in Lebanese politics. He is credited with facilitating the development of Hezbollah from a militia into an influential and effective political force in Lebanon.
Today, Nasrallah rarely appears in public for fear of assassination. Despite this, he still gives regular public lectures via video and is considered a compelling speaker.
