Hezbollah

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group

• Full Name

  Hezbollah (Party of God)

• Inspiration

  Iranian Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's model of Islamic governance

• Headquarters

  Lebanon

• Former Leader

  Hassan Nasrallah (1992-2024)

• Political Wing

  Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament

• Founding Reason

  Response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon

• Paramilitary Wing

  Jihad Council

• Services Provided

  Social services (schools, hospitals), satellite TV station (Al-Manar)

• Political Presence

  Holds seats in Lebanese Parliament (e.g., 15 seats, 12 seats in 2018)

• Military Strength (2016)

  Assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army; considered more powerful than the Lebanese Armed Forces

• Estimated Fighters (2021)

  100,000

• Key Objectives (1985 Manifesto)

  Expelling Western influence, destroying Israel, pledging allegiance to Iran's supreme leader, establishing an Iranian-influenced Islamic government, Lebanese self-determination

• Key Objectives (2009 Manifesto)

  Opposing political sectarianism, appealing to non-Islamic movements, promoting a national unity government, emphasizing hegemonic strategies of the US and Israel

• International Designation (Terrorist Group)

  By United States, European Union (military wing), most Western countries, most Arab League members (exceptions: Lebanon, Iraq)

• International Designation (Legitimate Socio-Political Force)

  By Russia

Timeline

• Iranian Revolution occurs, serving as an inspiration for Hezbollah's founding. (Source: summary, wikipedia, web_search_results)

  1979-02-11

• Hezbollah is founded by Lebanese clerics in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Approximately 1,500 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instructors arrive to support and unify various Lebanese Shia factions. (Source: summary, wikipedia, dbpedia, web_search_results)

  1982-06-06

• Believed to be responsible for the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut. (Source: wikipedia, web_search_results)

  1983-04-18

• Believed to be responsible for the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks and French barracks in Beirut. (Source: wikipedia, web_search_results)

  1983-10-23

• Believed to be responsible for the bombing of the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut. (Source: web_search_results)

  1984-09-20

• Hezbollah publishes its 'open letter' manifesto, outlining key objectives including expelling Western influence, destroying Israel, and establishing an Islamic government. (Source: wikipedia, dbpedia, web_search_results)

  1985-01-01

• Believed to be responsible for the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. (Source: web_search_results)

  1985-06-14

• Hezbollah begins participation in the South Lebanon conflict against Israeli forces and the South Lebanon Army (SLA), which continues until 2000. (Source: summary, wikipedia, dbpedia)

  1985-01-01

• Hassan Nasrallah becomes Secretary-General of Hezbollah after the assassination of Abbas Al-Musawi. Hezbollah also begins participating in Lebanese politics. (Source: dbpedia, web_search_results)

  1992-01-01

• Israel withdraws its forces from southern Lebanon, a key objective achieved by Hezbollah. (Source: summary, wikipedia, dbpedia)

  2000-05-24

• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 is passed, calling for the disarmament of all armed militias in Lebanon, including Hezbollah. (Source: web_search_results)

  2004-09-02

• Hezbollah is believed to be responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. (Source: wikipedia)

  2005-02-14

• Hezbollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers, sparking the 2006 Lebanon War with Israel. (Source: summary, wikipedia, dbpedia, web_search_results)

  2006-07-12

• A national unity government is formed in Lebanon, with Hezbollah and its allies obtaining 11 cabinet seats, giving them veto power. The Lebanese cabinet unanimously approves a policy statement recognizing Hezbollah's armed existence and its right to 'liberate or recover occupied lands'. (Source: dbpedia)

  2008-08-01

• Hezbollah updates its manifesto, opposing political sectarianism and promoting national unity. (Source: wikipedia)

  2009-01-01

• Hezbollah begins its involvement in the Syrian civil war, fighting alongside the Syrian government. (Source: summary, wikipedia, dbpedia, web_search_results)

  2012-01-01

• Hassan Nasrallah publicly confirms Hezbollah's support for Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, sending fighters to aid the government. (Source: web_search_results)

  2013-05-25

• The European Union designates Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization. (Source: dbpedia, web_search_results)

  2013-07-22

• Most member states of the Arab League designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group. (Source: dbpedia)

  2017-01-01

• In the Lebanese general election, Hezbollah holds 12 seats, and its alliance wins 70 out of 128 seats in Parliament. (Source: dbpedia)

  2018-05-06

• Hezbollah is accused of obstructing efforts to hold those responsible accountable for the Beirut port explosion. (Source: wikipedia)

  2020-08-04

• Hassan Nasrallah declares that Hezbollah has 100,000 fighters. (Source: summary, wikipedia, dbpedia)

  2021-01-01

• Hezbollah begins a new conflict with Israel, escalating into what is referred to as the Third Lebanon War. (Source: summary, related_documents, wikipedia, web_search_results)

  2023-10-07

• The Lebanese government votes to approve a decision to disarm Hezbollah, based on a U.S. plan, tasking the Lebanese Army with ensuring state control over weapons. (Source: summary, wikipedia)

  2024-08-07

• Hassan Nasrallah is assassinated by Israel, along with other key members of Hezbollah leadership, during the ongoing conflict with Israel. (Source: summary, wikipedia, web_search_results)

  2024-10-01

• An Israeli invasion of Lebanon occurs, followed by a ceasefire in the conflict. (Source: summary, wikipedia)

  2024-10-01

Hezbollah

Hezbollah ( HEZ-bə-LAH; Arabic: حزب الله, romanized: Ḥizbu 'llāh, pronounced [ħizbuˈɫːaːh], lit. 'Party of God') is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Its armed strength was assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army in 2016. Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by Lebanese clerics in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Inspired by the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's model of Islamic governance, Hezbollah established strong ties with Iran. The group was initially supported by 1,500 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instructors, who helped unify various Lebanese Shia factions under Hezbollah's leadership. Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto outlined its key objectives, which include expelling Western influence from the region, destroying Israel, pledging allegiance to Iran's supreme leader, and establishing an Islamic government influenced by Iran's political ideology. However, the manifesto also emphasized Lebanese self-determination. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Hezbollah fought against Israeli forces and the South Lebanon Army (SLA), eventually leading to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah also played a prominent role in the 2006 Lebanon War and later became involved in the Syrian civil war, where it fought alongside the Syrian government against rebel forces. In 2009, Hezbollah updated their manifesto to oppose political sectarianism, appeal to non-Islamic movements, and promote a national unity government. The updated manifesto has the same basic approach to foreign policy, emphasizing the hegemonic strategies of the US and Israel's role in the region as a forward base for colonizing the region. Since the 1990s, Hezbollah has grown into a significant political force in Lebanon. The group operates a vast social services network, including schools and hospitals, and runs a satellite TV station, Al-Manar. Politically, Hezbollah's Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc holds 15 seats in the Lebanese Parliament, making it a powerful player in Lebanon's government. However, the group's influence has led to growing domestic criticism. Following the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Hezbollah was accused of obstructing efforts to hold those responsible accountable, contributing to a decline in public trust. A 2024 Arab Barometer survey found that 55% of Lebanese have "no trust at all" in Hezbollah, although it remains popular among the Shia population. Despite calls for disarmament under United Nations Security Council resolutions, Hezbollah has expanded its military capabilities. Its armed wing is now considered stronger than the Lebanese Armed Forces, making it one of the most powerful non-state actors in the world. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared in 2021 that the group had 100,000 fighters. Hezbollah has been involved in several high-profile attacks; it is believed to be responsible for the bombing of the US embassy and the American and French barracks bombings in Beirut in 1983, the assassination of Rafic Hariri in 2005, as well as later attacks, including bombings and hijackings. While Hezbollah has been regarded as a resistance movement by some scholars, the entire organization, or its military wing alone, has been designated as a terrorist group by at least 26 countries, as of October 2020, including most Western countries. Since October 2023, Hezbollah has been at war with Israel. During this war, Nasrallah was assassinated after 32 years of leading the group, along with other key members of Hezbollah leadership. The conflict has led to an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and is currently in a ceasefire. On August 7, in a government meeting specifically addressing the disarmament of Hezbollah, the majority of the government voted to approve the decision. The Lebanese Army was tasked to create a plan ensuring that only the state has control over weapons in Lebanon. The decision is based on a U.S. plan to disarm Hezbollah.

Web Search Results

• Hezbollah - Wikipedia

  Hezbollah (/ˌ h ɛ z b ə ˈ l ɑː/_HEZ-bə-LAH_;( حزب الله, romanized:_Ḥizbu 'llāh_, pronounced( "Help:IPA/Arabic"), lit.'Party of God')( is a Lebanese ShiaIslamist political party and paramilitary group.( Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council,( and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Its armed strength was assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army in 2016.( [...] Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by Lebanese clerics in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.( Inspired by the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's model of Islamic governance, Hezbollah established strong ties with Iran. The group was initially supported by 1,500 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instructors, who helped unify various Lebanese Shia factions under Hezbollah's leadership.( Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto outlined its key objectives, which include [...] Hezbollah emerged in South Lebanon during a consolidation of Shia militias as a rival to the older Amal Movement. Hezbollah played a significant role in the Lebanese civil war, opposing American forces in 1982–83 and opposing Amal and Syria during the 1985–88 War of the Camps. However, Hezbollah's early primary focus was ending Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon( following Israel's 1982 invasion and siege of Beirut.( Amal, the main Lebanese Shia political group, initiated guerrilla

• What is Hezbollah? What to know about its origins ...

  Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon, where its extensive security apparatus, political organization, and social services network have fostered its reputation as “a state within a state.” Founded in the chaos of the fifteen-year Lebanese Civil War, the Iran-backed group is driven by its opposition to Israel and its resistance to Western influence in the Middle East. [...] A group of Shiites influenced by the theocratic government in Iran—the region’s major Shiite government, which came to power in 1979—took up arms against the Israeli occupation. Seeing an opportunity to expand its influence in Arab states, Iran and itsIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC) provided funds and training to the budding militia, which adopted the name Hezbollah, meaning “The Party of God.” It earned a reputation for extremist militancy due to its frequent clashes with rival Shiite [...] Hezbollah is led by Hassan Nasrallah, who took over as secretary-general in 1992 after Israel assassinated the group’s cofounder and previous leader, Abbas Al-Musawi. Nasrallah oversees the seven-member Shura Council and its five subcouncils: the political assembly, the jihad assembly, the parliamentary assembly, the executive assembly, and the judicial assembly. TheU.S. State Department estimatesthat Hezbollah has tens of thousands of members and other supporters worldwide.

• What Is Hezbollah?

  Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon, where it has fostered a reputation as “a state within a state.” Founded during the chaos of the fifteen-year Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), the Iran-backed group is driven by its violent opposition to Israel and its resistance to Western influence in the Middle East. More From Our Experts Ebenezer Obadare Deadly Encounters Ray Takeyh Iran’s Regime Rattled but Resilient—So Far Steven Levitsky [...] Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and many other countries, and has deep-rooted military alliances with repressive, anti-Israel regimes in Iran and Syria. Cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel escalated in recent years, particularly amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip that broke out last year. In a major intensification of its battle with Hezbollah, in late 2024 Israel killed longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, and launched a [...] A group of Shiites influenced by the theocratic government in Iran—the region’s major Shiite government, which came to power in 1979—took up arms against the Israeli occupation. Seeing an opportunity to expand its influence in Arab states, Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) provided funds and training to the budding militia, which adopted the name Hezbollah, meaning “The Party of God.” It earned a reputation for extremist militancy due to its frequent clashes with rival

• Hizballah - terrorist group

  Formed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Hizballah (the “Party of God”), a Lebanon-based Shia terrorist group, advocates Shia empowerment globally. Hizballah has been involved in numerous anti-US terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut in April 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983, and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984, as well as the hijacking of TWA 847 in 1985 and the Khobar Towers attack in [...] Hizballah has participated in the Lebanese Government since 1992. With the 2004 passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which called for the disarmament of all armed militias in Lebanon, Hizballah has focused on justifying its retention of arms by casting itself as the defender of Lebanon against Israeli aggression. On 12 July 2006, Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, sparking the 2006 war in which Hizballah claimed victory by virtue of its survival. It has since sought to use the [...] Nasrallah publicly indicated in May 2013 that Hizballah was supporting Bashar al-Asad’s regime by sending fighters to Syria, including Iraqi Shia militias. The group also supports Palestinian rejectionist groups in their struggle against Israel and provides training for Iraqi Shia militants attacking Western interests in Iraq. The European Union designated Hizballah’s military wing as a terrorist organization on 22 July 2013, following the March conviction that year of a Hizballah member in

• Who was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah?

  The new group, Islamic Amal, received considerable military and organisational support from Iran's Revolutionary Guards based in the Bekaa Valley, and emerged as the most prominent and effective of the Shia militias that would later form Hezbollah. In 1985, Hezbollah officially announced its establishment by publishing an "open letter" that identified the US and the Soviet Union as Islam's principal enemies and called for the "obliteration" of Israel, which it said was occupying Muslim lands. [...] Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah, which is banned as a terrorist organisation in the UK, US and other countries, helped train fighters from the Palestinian armed group Hamas, as well as militias in Iraq and Yemen, and obtained missiles and rockets from Iran for use against Israel.

• Instance Of

  Q4167410

Hezbollah (/ˌhɛzbəˈlɑː/; Arabic: حزب الله Ḥizbu 'llāh, lit. 'Party of Allah' or 'Party of God', also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the idea of Hezbollah arose among Lebanese clerics who had studied in Najaf, and who adopted the model set out by Ayatollah Khomeini after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. After failing to agree on a name for the new organisation, the party's founders adopted the name chosen by Ayatollah Khomeini, Hezbollah. The organization was established as part of an Iranian effort, through funding and the dispatch of a core group of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (pasdaran) instructors, to aggregate a variety of Lebanese Shia groups into a unified organization to resist the Israeli occupation and improve the standing and status of the long marginalised and underrepresented Shia community in that country. A contingent of 1,500 pasdaran instructors arrived after the Syrian government, which occupied Lebanon's eastern highlands, permitted their transit to a base in the Bekaa valley. During the Lebanese Civil War, Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its objectives as the expulsion of "the Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land", the submission of the Christian Phalangists to "just power", bringing them to justice "for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and Christians", and permitting "all the sons of our people" to choose the form of government they want, while calling on them to "pick the option of Islamic government". Hezbollah organised volunteers who fought for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. From 1985 to 2000, Hezbollah participated in the South Lebanon conflict against the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which finally led to the rout of the SLA and the retreat of the IDF from South Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah and the IDF fought each other again in the 2006 Lebanon War. Its military strength has grown so significantly since 2006 that its paramilitary wing is considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state" and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders. Hezbollah is part of Lebanon's March 8 Alliance, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. It maintains strong support among Lebanese Shia Muslims, while Sunnis have disagreed with its agenda. Hezbollah also has support in some Christian areas of Lebanon. It receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran and political support from Syria. Since 1990, Hezbollah has participated in Lebanese politics, in a process which is described as the Lebanonisation of Hezbollah, and it later participated in the government of Lebanon and joined political alliances. After the 2006–08 Lebanese protests and clashes, a national unity government was formed in 2008, with Hezbollah and its opposition allies obtaining 11 of 30 cabinet seats, enough to give them veto power. In August 2008, Lebanon's new cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement that recognizes Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" (such as the Shebaa Farms). Since 2012, Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian civil war has seen it join the Syrian government in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy" to destroy its alliance with Bashar al-Assad against Israel. Between 2013 and 2015, the organisation deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq to fight or train local militias to fight against the Islamic State. The group's legitimacy is considered to have been severely damaged due to the sectarian nature of the Syrian war. In the 2018 Lebanese general election, Hezbollah held 12 seats and its alliance won the election by gaining 70 out of 128 seats in the Parliament of Lebanon. Nasrallah declared on 2021 that the group has 100,000 fighters. Either the entire organization or only its military wing has been designated a terrorist organization by several countries, including by the European Union and, since 2017, also by most member states of the Arab League, with two exceptions – Lebanon, where Hezbollah is the most powerful political party, and Iraq. Russia does not view Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization" but as a "legitimate socio-political force".