Beirut: Following are the facts about the Lebanon-based group Hezbollahwho deals in fire Israel Since the start of the war between Israel and Gaza on 7 October Iran-backed Hamas.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it fired hundreds of rockets and drones against Israel on Sunday in revenge for the killing of a commander in Beirut. The Israeli military said it had thwarted a major attack with pre-emptive strikes.
What is the origin of Hezbollah?
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards founded Hezbollah in 1982 during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war, part of Tehran’s efforts to take control of the region during its 1979 military offensive. islamic revolution and fight the invading Israeli army Lebanon in 1982. The group has grown from a shadowy faction to a heavily armed force with major influence in Lebanon and the region. Western governments, including the United States, declare it a terrorist group. So do Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist groups And shares the ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
How did Hezbollah get involved? Gaza War,
Hezbollah is “a powerful part of theaxis of resistance“, a coalition of Iran-backed groups in the Middle East that includes the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, sparked the Gaza war by attacking Israel on October 7. Declaring solidarity with the Palestinians, Hezbollah began firing at Israeli positions in the border area on October 8. Since then, the two sides have exchanged fire on an almost daily basis, with Hezbollah launching rockets and drones and Israel increasing air and artillery strikes. The attacks have mostly taken place near or on the border, but both sides have also stepped up their attacks.
Thousands of people have become homeless in Lebanon and Israel.
How powerful is Hezbollah’s military?
When other groups gave up their weapons after Lebanon’s civil war, Hezbollah kept its weapons to fight Israeli forces, which were occupying the country’s predominantly Shi’ite Muslim south. Years of guerrilla warfare led to Israel’s withdrawal in 2000, but Hezbollah kept its arsenal intact.
Hezbollah demonstrated military prowess during a five-week war with Israel in 2006, which erupted when it crossed into Israel and kidnapped two soldiers and killed others.
Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel during the conflict, killing 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and 158 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
Hezbollah’s military power grew after 2006. The group says its rockets can strike all parts of Israel and its arsenal includes precision missiles. During the Gaza war, Hezbollah has announced attacks using surface-to-air missiles – a weapon it had long been believed to have in its arsenal but had never previously confirmed. It has also fired explosive drones at Israel.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said the group has 100,000 fighters. According to the US Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, Hezbollah is estimated to have 45,000 fighters in 2022, of whom about 20,000 are full-time and 25,000 reservists.
What is Hezbollah’s regional influence?
Hezbollah has inspired and supported other Iranian-backed groups across the region, including Iraqi Shiite militias. It played a major role in helping its ally President Bashar al-Assad fight his war in Syria, where it still has fighters. Saudi Arabia says Hezbollah has also fought in Yemen in support of the Iran-allied Houthis. Hezbollah denies this.
What is Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon?
Hezbollah’s influence comes from its weapons and the support of many Lebanese Shi’ites, who say the group protects Lebanon from Israel. It has ministers in the government and MPs in parliament.
Lebanese parties opposed to Hezbollah say the group has weakened the state and unilaterally dragged Lebanon into war.
It entered Lebanese politics in 1992, contesting elections, and began playing a more prominent role in state affairs in 2005, when Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, a Sunni politician and symbol of Saudi influence in Beirut.
The UN-backed court convicted three Hezbollah members in absentia over the killing. Hezbollah denied any role and called the court a tool of its enemies.
In 2008, a power struggle between Hezbollah and its Lebanese political opponents led to armed conflict, when the government vowed to take action against the group’s military communications network. Hezbollah fighters seized parts of Beirut.
Hezbollah and its arms-holding allies won a majority in parliament in 2018. That majority was lost in 2022, but the group still has major political influence.
Allegations of attacks on Western interests
Lebanese officials and Western intelligence agencies have said Hezbollah-linked groups carried out suicide attacks on Western embassies and facilities and kidnapped Western citizens in the 1980s.
The United States blames Hezbollah for the 1983 suicide bombings that destroyed the U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 soldiers, and destroyed a French barracks, killing 58 French paratroopers. It has also been said that Hezbollah was behind a suicide attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983.
Referring to those attacks and hostage-taking, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a 2022 interview that they were carried out by small groups with no connection to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has also been accused of terrorist attacks elsewhere. Argentina has blamed it and Iran for the deadly bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people in 1994 and for the 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people.
Both Hezbollah and Iran have denied any responsibility.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it fired hundreds of rockets and drones against Israel on Sunday in revenge for the killing of a commander in Beirut. The Israeli military said it had thwarted a major attack with pre-emptive strikes.
What is the origin of Hezbollah?
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards founded Hezbollah in 1982 during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war, part of Tehran’s efforts to take control of the region during its 1979 military offensive. islamic revolution and fight the invading Israeli army Lebanon in 1982. The group has grown from a shadowy faction to a heavily armed force with major influence in Lebanon and the region. Western governments, including the United States, declare it a terrorist group. So do Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist groups And shares the ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
How did Hezbollah get involved? Gaza War,
Hezbollah is “a powerful part of theaxis of resistance“, a coalition of Iran-backed groups in the Middle East that includes the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, sparked the Gaza war by attacking Israel on October 7. Declaring solidarity with the Palestinians, Hezbollah began firing at Israeli positions in the border area on October 8. Since then, the two sides have exchanged fire on an almost daily basis, with Hezbollah launching rockets and drones and Israel increasing air and artillery strikes. The attacks have mostly taken place near or on the border, but both sides have also stepped up their attacks.
Thousands of people have become homeless in Lebanon and Israel.
How powerful is Hezbollah’s military?
When other groups gave up their weapons after Lebanon’s civil war, Hezbollah kept its weapons to fight Israeli forces, which were occupying the country’s predominantly Shi’ite Muslim south. Years of guerrilla warfare led to Israel’s withdrawal in 2000, but Hezbollah kept its arsenal intact.
Hezbollah demonstrated military prowess during a five-week war with Israel in 2006, which erupted when it crossed into Israel and kidnapped two soldiers and killed others.
Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel during the conflict, killing 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and 158 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
Hezbollah’s military power grew after 2006. The group says its rockets can strike all parts of Israel and its arsenal includes precision missiles. During the Gaza war, Hezbollah has announced attacks using surface-to-air missiles – a weapon it had long been believed to have in its arsenal but had never previously confirmed. It has also fired explosive drones at Israel.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said the group has 100,000 fighters. According to the US Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, Hezbollah is estimated to have 45,000 fighters in 2022, of whom about 20,000 are full-time and 25,000 reservists.
What is Hezbollah’s regional influence?
Hezbollah has inspired and supported other Iranian-backed groups across the region, including Iraqi Shiite militias. It played a major role in helping its ally President Bashar al-Assad fight his war in Syria, where it still has fighters. Saudi Arabia says Hezbollah has also fought in Yemen in support of the Iran-allied Houthis. Hezbollah denies this.
What is Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon?
Hezbollah’s influence comes from its weapons and the support of many Lebanese Shi’ites, who say the group protects Lebanon from Israel. It has ministers in the government and MPs in parliament.
Lebanese parties opposed to Hezbollah say the group has weakened the state and unilaterally dragged Lebanon into war.
It entered Lebanese politics in 1992, contesting elections, and began playing a more prominent role in state affairs in 2005, when Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, a Sunni politician and symbol of Saudi influence in Beirut.
The UN-backed court convicted three Hezbollah members in absentia over the killing. Hezbollah denied any role and called the court a tool of its enemies.
In 2008, a power struggle between Hezbollah and its Lebanese political opponents led to armed conflict, when the government vowed to take action against the group’s military communications network. Hezbollah fighters seized parts of Beirut.
Hezbollah and its arms-holding allies won a majority in parliament in 2018. That majority was lost in 2022, but the group still has major political influence.
Allegations of attacks on Western interests
Lebanese officials and Western intelligence agencies have said Hezbollah-linked groups carried out suicide attacks on Western embassies and facilities and kidnapped Western citizens in the 1980s.
The United States blames Hezbollah for the 1983 suicide bombings that destroyed the U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 soldiers, and destroyed a French barracks, killing 58 French paratroopers. It has also been said that Hezbollah was behind a suicide attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983.
Referring to those attacks and hostage-taking, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a 2022 interview that they were carried out by small groups with no connection to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has also been accused of terrorist attacks elsewhere. Argentina has blamed it and Iran for the deadly bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people in 1994 and for the 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people.
Both Hezbollah and Iran have denied any responsibility.