Hezbollah, what to know about the Lebanese anti-Zionist group that supports Hamas against Israel

WHAT IS IT

• Friend of Hamasclosely linked to Tehran, Israel’s sworn enemy: the Lebanese organization Hezbollah (whose name means “Party of God”) has returned to the center of the international political scene for its possible support for Hamas and the role it may have had in preparing the attacks. Founded in 1982 as a paramilitary organization during the conflict with Israel, it subsequently became a political party

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THE LEADER

• Hezbollah is leading Hassan Nasrallahpolitical secretary of the movement from afar 1992. Thanks to him the group has become not only a dangerous adversary for the government of Israelthanks to one of the best military organizations in the Middle East, but has also established itself on a political level, managing to become a central player in the formation of Lebanese governments

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THE SYMBOL

• The Hezbollah flag emblem is characterized by a yellow cloth in the center of which stands part of a verse of the Koransūra V, verse 56, which reads: “He who chooses for allies Allah and His Messenger and the believers, verily it is the party of God, which shall have the victory.” The letter alif, the first letter of God’s name, is graphically rendered as a hand holding a stylized assault rifle and is placed side by side from a schematic representation of the terrestrial globe

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THE BOND WITH TEHRAN

• The connection with Iran is evident from the beginning when, between the 70s and 80s, during the Lebanese civil war, Hezbollah received support from the newborn girls Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The group’s political Shiism openly refers to the principles of‘Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and follows the version developed by the Ayatollah in his book “Velayat-e faqih” (“The Islamic Government”). The intention to transform Lebanon into one Theocratic Republic like Tehran it was subsequently abandoned

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MONEY AND LOYALTY

• Hezbollah’s ideology has been known since 1985when in his manifesto he promised to expel the Western powers from Lebanon, called for the destruction of the Israeli state and swore loyalty to the supreme leader of Iran. A loyalty that, according to him United States, is increasingly well remunerated: in fact, the check would be worth 700 million dollars which every year detaches the Theocratic Republic for the group

THE RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL

• The reference that the organization and its leaders make to Israel is constant: born as a resistance movement to the Jewish occupation, Hezbollah works to destroy the country and for this reason even when, in 2000, Tel Aviv officially withdrew from Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah continued to claim that Israel was illegally occupying Lebanese territory Shebaa farms. These skirmishes continued until reaching a real conflict, that of 2006

THE MILITARY WING AND TERRORISM

• Today again Hezbollah controls large portions of its territory, particularly Shiite ones such as part of the capital Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern region of Bekaa Valleywhere it also exercises social functions thanks to its numerous affiliated organizations. Hezbollah also has a para-military wing, known as al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya (“Islamic Resistance”), accused of being a terrorist organization by the European Union, while the USA and Israel also classify the parent company as such

THE ATTACKS

• Several attacks have often been attributed to the Lebanese organization between the 1980s and 2000: the US government accused Hezbollah of being the instigator of what happened on October 23, 1983when two car bombs exploded in a barracks occupied by American and French troops, killing nearly 300 people. Likewise, the Argentine government accused them of being responsible for two attacks on one synagogue and to a Jewish cultural center

THE POLITICAL TURN

• The political turning point of the movement dates back to 2005, when they enter the National Assembly of Lebanon for the first time, where they get 14 seats. Since then there have been different experiences in government and in opposition, where they are currently following consultations held in May 2022

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

• In addition to Iran, Hezbollah has over time woven relations with various countries: among these there is certainly the Syria of the president Bashar-al-Assadkept in power a Damascus also thanks to the war effort of the Lebanese, who have many of their logistical bases in Syria. Their weapons, however, they have a more varied origin: the weapons often used against Israel come from Russia, China and even North Korea, which in their own way have supplied the group, which therefore does not only count on Tehran

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