Hezbollah (Arabic for Party of God)
Hezbollah (Arabic for Party of God) was founded in 1982 as an anti-Israeli militia during the Lebanese civil war. Like the Sunni Hamas, it is under the patronage of Iran and is predominantly made up of Lebanese Shiites.
Hezbollah’s military strength in Lebanon is considerable and resembles the army of a medium-sized country. It has more than 150,000 rockets and missiles, including the Fajr-5 and Zelzal-2 rockets originating from Iran. This armament underlines the threat that Hezbollah poses to Israeli security.
Hezbollah’s elite unit, the Radwan unit, was founded with the support of the Iranian Quds Force. It usually carries out attacks on Israel.
The leader of Hezbollah is Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah has been responsible for a number of large-scale terrorist attacks against Israeli and Western targets over the past forty years. These include the bomb attack on a US barracks in Beirut in 1983, on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and on the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994.
At the beginning of January 2024, Saleh a-Aruri, Hamas’ number two and the mastermind behind the terrorist attack on October 7, was eliminated in Beirut. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah then announced retaliation against his ally and frequent interlocutor. Hezbollah has indeed been constantly attacking targets in northern Israel since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7. However, it has kept a low profile so as not to provoke a massive retaliation from Israel.
