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Lebanese Hezbollah
Updated June 22, 2018
Overview
Hezbollah (Party of God) is an Iran-backed Lebanese
Shi'a militia and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist
Organization (FTO). Formed in 1982, in the wake of the
Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, the group has
described itself as the leader of Islamic resistance to Israel
and has conducted numerous attacks against Israeli and
Western targets. Hezbollah currently operates regionally as
a militia force, while also playing a powerful role as a
Lebanese political party and provider of social services.
Leadership
Hassan Nasrallah has served as Secretary-General of
Hezbollah since the assassination of his predecessor by the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1992. The group's
leadership structure includes an advisory body known as the
Shura Council, comprising the heads of the Executive,
Political, and Judiciary Councils, as well as two permanent
Iranian representatives. According to the U.S. government,
the External Security Organization (ESO), the military arm
of Hezbollah responsible for the planning, coordination,
and execution of terrorist attacks, is headed by Talal
Hamiyah. He reportedly took over in 2008, after his
predecessor, Imad Mughniyah, was killed in a car bombing.
Objectives
For nearly two decades, Hezbollah's stated objective was to
drive IDF forces from southern Lebanon, through a range of
attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets. Since the
Israeli withdrawal in May 2000, Hezbollah has used the
remaining Israeli presence in the Sheb'a Farms and other
disputed areas in the Lebanon-Syria-Israel tri-border region
to justify its ongoing conflict with Israel-and its
persistence as an armed militia alongside the Lebanese
Armed Forces (LAF). Hezbollah promotes Iranian interests
in the region, through efforts to ensure the survival of the
Asad government in Syria and counter the influence of
Iran's regional rivals. In recent years, the group has
portrayed itself as a protector of Lebanon's domestic
security, conducting operations against Sunni extremist
groups that have crossed into the country from Syria.
Areas of Operation
Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and primarily operates in the
Middle East, though it has conducted attacks elsewhere.
Lebanon
According to U.S. government assessments, Hezbollah
controls access to parts of Lebanon and operates inside the
country with relative impunity. The group was implicated
in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri in a car bombing in downtown Beirut
that also killed 21 others. In 2011, the United Nations-
backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) indicted four
Hezbollah members in connection with the Hariri
assassination and is conducting trials in absentia (a fifth
https://crsrepo
Hezbollah member was indicted in 2013). Other anti-Syrian
politicians, journalists, and security personnel were killed in
the years following the Hariri assassination, including four
members of parliament; analysts have claimed that
Hezbollah and/or Syria are likely culprits.
Figure I. Lebanon
Source: Created by CRS using ESRI, Google Maps, and Good
Shepherd Engineering and Computing.
Hezbollah vies for the loyalties of its constituents by
operating a vast network of schools, clinics, youth
programs, private businesses, and local security. Hezbollah
has participated in elections since 1992. The group entered
the Cabinet for the first time in 2005, and has held one or
two seats in each of the six Lebanese governments formed
since then. Hezbollah has at times sought to block cabinet
decisions, twice prompting the collapse of the government
by withdrawing from the cabinet alongside its political
allies. The group is part of the March 8 political coalition,
which includes Lebanese President Michel Aoun of the
Free Patriotic Movement. Hezbollah did not gain any
additional seats in Lebanon's May 2018 legislative
elections (it continues to hold 13), but parties allied with the
March 8 coalition increased their share of seats.
Syria
Hezbollah has a longstanding relationship with the Asad
government in Syria, which facilitates the transit of
weapons through its territory from Iran to Hezbollah. In
2013, Nasrallah acknowledged that Hezbollah fighters were
operating inside Syria and pledged that the group would
do everything in [its] power to ensure the Asad
government's survival. Formerly limited to advisory and
support roles, Hezbollah fighters increasingly undertook
combat missions, coordinating with Syrian military and
paramilitary forces to recapture Syrian towns along the
Lebanese border. Since 2013, Hezbollah has expanded its
geographical scope of operations in Syria. While most
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