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By: Sneha Bhale
Hezbollah or “party of god”, is a Shitte Muslim militant group based in Lebanon. Its main opposition is the Western influence in the Middle East. Established during the Lebanese War, the Iran-backed group has a history of creating worldwide fear through terrorist attacks. The State Department estimates that Hezbollah has thousands of members and other supporters worldwide.
How did Hezbollah originate?
In 1975, Lebanon broke out in a fifteen-year civil war over the Palestinian presence in the country. In 1943, a compromise divided political power among Lebanon’s predominant religious groups—a Sunni Muslim serves as prime minister, a Maronite Christian as president, and a Shiite Muslim as the speaker of parliament. The Sunni Muslim population experienced rapid growth with the arrival of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, while Shiite Muslims felt increasingly marginalized by the ruling Christian minority.
The Shiite Muslims, tired of being persecuted in their own homes, formed a militia known as Hezbollah. Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), seeing an opportunity to expand its influence in Arab states, started providing the funding and training to the militia. Soon after, attacks on foreign targets began, including the 1983 suicide bombing of US and French barracks in Beirut, which had 300 casualties. Hezbollah eventually became a vital asset to Iran and pledged allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader.
Where does Hezbollah currently stand?
Hezbollah is led by Hassan Nasralla, who took over as the secretary-general after Israel assassinated the group’s previous leader, Abbas Al-Musawi. Nasrallah oversees the seven-member Shura Council and its five sub-councils: the political assembly, the jihad assembly, the parliamentary assembly, the executive assembly, and the judicial assembly.
Hezbollah controls much of Lebanon’s Shiite-majority regions, counting parts of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley locale. Despite Hezbollah being based in Lebanon, its declaration clarifies that its operations are not kept by residential borders.
What is Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon?
At the same time, Hezbollah maintains its military. The 1989 Taif Agreement stated that Hezbollah was the only militia allowed to keep its arms. The International Institute for Strategic Studies writes in 2017 that the militia had ten thousand active fighters and twenty thousand reserves, with an arsenal of small arms, tanks, drones, and various long-range rockets.
Hezbollah has created solid political and social arms in expansion to its military operations. It has been an installation of the Lebanese government since 1992 when eight members were instituted in Parliament, and the party has held cabinet positions since 2005. Also, Hezbollah oversees an array of social administrations that incorporates infrastructure, health-care facilities, and youth programs, helping them gain influence across ethnic groups in Lebanon.
How is Hezbollah involved with Syria?
Hezbollah finds a loyal ally in Syria, whose army occupied most of Lebanon during Lebanon’s civil war. The militia has since remained a stalwart ally of the Assad regime. In return for Tehran’s and Hezbollah’s support, experts speculate that the Syrian government facilitates the transfer of weapons from Iran to the militia.
Hezbollah publicly confirmed its involvement in the Syrian Civil War in 2013, joining Iran and Russia in supporting the Syrian government against largely Sunni rebel groups. More than seven thousand Hezbollah militants are estimated to have fought in the pro-Assad alliance, which has been instrumental in the survival of the Assad regime. In 2019, Hezbollah withdrew many of its fighters from Syria, attributing the decision to the Assad regime’s military success.
How is Hezbollah involved with Yemen?
The conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels, which has resulted in 50,000 casualties and hundreds of thousands more injured, shows no signs of being resolved anytime soon. The Houthi rebels and Hezbollah are both backed by Iran and Hezbollah’s military arms have been used in the war. Iran has been accused of smuggling weapons to the Houthi rebels and providing them with sophisticated Hezbollah military trainers from Hezbollah. Iran and Yemen tensions are on a climb as the Houthi rebels receive training, expertise, and weapons from Iran and Hezbollah.
Where does it stand on Israel?
Israel is considered to be Hezbollah’s main enemy, dating back to Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in 1978. Hezbollah has been blamed for attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets abroad, including the 1994 car bombings of a Jewish community center in Argentina, which killed eighty-five people. Even after Israel officially withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, they have continued to clash with Hezbollah, which eventually escalated into a month-long war in 2006. In December 2018, Israel announced the discovery of miles of tunnels running from Lebanon into northern Israel that it claims were created by Hezbollah.
What is the future of Hezbollah?
While Hezbollah has been focusing on international conflict, the militia group could see a more pressing threat in its own backyard. Unemployment, poverty, and debt have continued to soar under the new government, and demonstrations have persisted for months despite a lockdown to combat COVID-19. But experts suspect that Hezbollah will not bend to protesters’ demands for a politically independent government, fearing that such an outcome would weaken the group’s power and force it to disarm.
But with Lebanese politics in upheaval over mass discontent with the ruling class, and with U.S.-Iran tensions rising, Hezbollah’s role in Lebanese society may change.
Discussion questions:
How will the US-Iran tensions affect Hezbollah?
Does Hezbollah pose a legitimate threat to the United States?
Will the explosion in Beirut lead to more scrutiny of Hezbollah?
Is war likely to break out between Israel and Hezbollah?
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