Hezbollah: A Contested History

In the context of Israel’s continued siege on Gaza and, most recently, the expansion of its war into Lebanon resulting in the death of its former leader and key founder, Hassan Nasrallah, the organization known as ‘Hezbollah’ has become a frequent mention in news media across the globe.  But what exactly is Hezbollah, and why is it relevant to Middle Eastern political discussions today?

The ‘What’

Hezbollah (Arabic: حزب الله , lit. “Party of God”) is a Shi’ite Islamist militia group created in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon during its tumultuous Civil War (1975-1990). It has since evolved into a de facto political party in Lebanon, and since 2022, the group and its allies have occupied 62 seats in the Lebanese Parliament.

Lebanon is a country deeply divided across sectarian lines—built into its political system, the government conventionally has a Christian (i.e. Maronite) President, a Sunni Muslim Prime Minister, and a Shi’ite speaker of Parliament. This system was devised in the 1943 National Pact,  an unwritten agreement between representatives of the three major sects that established its independence from France and basic ideas for equal representation between these sects. Before this point, it had been occupied since 1922 under the League of Nations approved “French Mandate for Lebanon and Syria.” Lebanon’s history is likely best understood in this context as a post-colonial one, facing the lasting ramifications of French favoritism towards the Lebanese Maronite Christian community and internal divides stemming from this colonial history.

The 1975-1990 Civil War, as an exacerbation of these sectarian divides, pitted the sects against one another. Maronite Christians found themselves aligned more closely with Israel, while Sunni and secular Arab nationalists formed their own alliances. Shi’ite parties and militias, like Harakat Amal and Hezbollah, formed, as previously mentioned, in opposition to Israeli involvement in the war. It is also important to note that Syrian troops under the Alawite (a sect considered an offshoot of Shi’a Islam) Assad regime occupied parts of Lebanon from 1976 until 2005, ostensibly to maintain order within the war-torn nation.

Hezbollah declared its allegiance to Iran’s (notably Shi’ite) Supreme Leader in a 1985 manifesto, which also included aims to expel Western Powers from Lebanon, to destroy Israel, and to instate ‘Iran-inspired Islamist regime.’ While Hezbollah has decidedly toned down its Islamist rhetoric in recent years (since 2009, specifically), Hezbollah maintains ties with Iran to this very day, receiving funding and weapons from the Iranian government in its efforts to combat Israel’s influence in Lebanon.

Current Relevance and Syria

Hezbollah’s ties with Iran have been present since its inception, and in its opposition to the Israeli government, it has made allies among Arab nationalist circles, especially the Syrian Assad Regime. Despite a somewhat inconsistent relationship between Hezbollah and Syria, with deepening ties between Iran and Syria, Syria has served as a critical passageway for Iranian support of the organization. 

In the Syrian Civil War, Hezbollah played a key role in propping up the Assad Regime through its paramilitary operations against Sunni militias and terrorist organizations, namely the al-Nusra Front (tied to Al-Qaeda) and ISIS. It has also been criticized by Syrian activists for participating in what activists call ‘denominational cleansing’ by the Assad regime in cities like Homs (which has taken place on both sides of the conflict). 

Hezbollah further has a history of committing terror attacks, often against Western-aligned targets ranging from embassy bombings to kidnappings and assassinations. It furthermore continues to wage war against Israel from the southern border of Lebanon, utilizing tactics ranging from direct firefights to directed-rocketfire, even at civilian targets. This penchant has earned the ire of many countries, especially the United States, which has classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Despite its classification as a terrorist organization, Hezbollah has also been engaged in rather innocuous and in fact beneficial activities for the Lebanese people, especially the more marginalized Shi’a community within Lebanon. In addition to its political wing which is a legitimate party in the Lebanese Parliament, Hezbollah provides social services, education, and healthcare to underserved populations in the south of Lebanon. Further, it must be mentioned that people within the region may consider Hezbollah to be a sort of necessary evil to maintaining Lebanese sovereignty; were it not present in the Civil War, continued Israeli occupation of Lebanon and further expansion could have been a real possibility. 

Since October 7th, 2023, and Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Flood Operation began, Hezbollah has been firing rockets, mortars, and drones across the Israel-Lebanon border in support of their (Sunni*) ally. Israel has also blamed Hezbollah for an attack on the occupied Golan Heights (land taken from Syria in 1967) in July 2024 that killed 12 children, but the group denied the accusations. Israel then responded with a strike in Beirut, killing 3 civilians and wounding dozens. Between continued battle at the border and rocket exchanges, Israel assassinated the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike on Dahieh. It then began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon as of early October, ostensibly to destroy Hezbollah. 

Is Hezbollah truly deserving of its classification as a terrorist organization? If Western powers should deal with its influence in the region, how should they go about it?

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*Author’s Note 1: It is important to note that while certain conflicts may take on at least a partially sectarian nature in some regard such as the Syrian Civil War or the Lebanese Civil War, this does not mean that Hezbollah or any other group in the Middle East necessarily operates under purely a sectarian perspective—it is highly context dependent. 

**Author’s Note 2: My friend’s grandmother who had nothing to do with any of this had her house blown up in southern Lebanon by Israeli strikes. No good way to work that in.