What to know about Hezbollah and the current conflict with Israel, as mounting clashes on Lebanese border spark fears of wider war
Israeli strikes killed more than 550 people on Monday, Lebanese health officials reported, making it the deadliest day in Lebanon since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Monday’s strikes come after back-to-back attacks involving exploding walkie-talkies and pagers belonging to Hezbollah members in Beirut last week, which killed dozens and injured thousands, followed by retaliatory strikes on Israel over the weekend.
Thousands of people living in the south and east of Lebanon were told to evacuate Monday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging citizens to “take this warning seriously” in a video message.
The Israeli military then carried out a strike in Beirut, with sources telling Israeli media that the target is senior Hezbollah commander Ali Karaki, the head of the group’s southern command.
The culmination of the recent Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, the exploding pagers in Lebanon and Hezbollah’s attacks going deeper into Israel is pushing the two sides toward what could be their first war since 2006. These latest attacks come amid stalled negotiations to secure a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict playing out along Israel’s southern border, with Hamas in Gaza.
Hezbollah claims it is fighting Israel on behalf of Gaza, while Israel says it’s trying to protect its northern border. The rising conflicts could lead to an all-out war in the Middle East — an event multiple international leaders have warned about if the back-and-forth strikes continue to escalate.
To understand how we got here, here are some basic facts you should know about Hezbollah and the current conflict.
How did Hezbollah start?
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist militant group that the U.S. and several other countries have classified as a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah, or “the Party of God,” arose during Lebanon’s civil war in the late 1970s, when tensions between the country’s leading religious groups were at an all-time high. Israeli troops invaded parts of southern Lebanon in 1978 and 1982 to combat Palestinian guerrilla fighters on the Israel border after thousands of Palestinian refugees relocated to Lebanon following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
By the early 1980s, Israel had occupied parts of southern Lebanon. Iran, sensing tension between Lebanon and Israel, began to provide funds and training to the southern Lebanon residents, which led to the formation of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah’s manifesto, written in 1985, encourages the group’s members to combat Western influence in Lebanon, destroy the Israel and swear allegiance to Iran’s leader.
According to a U.S. State Department report from 2022, Iran continues to provide most of Hezbollah’s training, weapons and funding — sending the group hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Where is Hezbollah based?
Hezbollah has tens of thousands of members and supporters all over the world, according to the U.S. State Department. In Lebanon, they are mostly found in the country’s Shiite-dominant areas, like Beirut and southern Lebanon. Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, is estimated to have a population of about 2 million people.
Members of Hezbollah have held political positions in the Lebanese government since 1992.
What’s the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas?
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are groups backed by Iran with the common goal of eliminating Israel. Both organizations have been designated as terrorist groups by the U.S.
Hezbollah defines itself as part of the Shia resistance movement and has not gone to war to free Palestine.
Hamas, on the other hand, is a Palestinian nationalist militant group that was originally an offshoot of a the (Sunni) Muslim Brotherhood. Because of the differences in religious doctrine, Hamas’s connection to Iran is less than Hezbollah’s and it operates more independently. Hamas also has support from Turkey and Qatar.
Hamas, which has been the governing body in the Gaza Strip since 2006, was behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The current war in Gaza is between Israel and Hamas.
The current Israel-Hezbollah conflict
Israel and Hezbollah have clashed intermittently since the early 1990s, with their first major war taking place over the course of about a month starting in July 2006. A Human Rights Watch report from 2007 estimated that at least 1,109 Lebanese and 55 Israelis were killed in the conflict, which led to the displacement of 1 million Lebanese.
Israel’s latest series of clashes with Hezbollah began on Oct. 8, 2023 — one day after the Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, which has reportedly left more than 40,000 dead. There have been almost daily updates to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict since then, but here are some key events leading up to the current moment.
Oct. 7, 2023: Hamas launches a surprise attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu declares war on Hamas.
Read an Oct. 7 timeline from AFP: October 7: how Israel's deadliest day unfolded
Oct. 8, 2023: In support of Gaza, Hezbollah launches its own attack on Israel along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Data collected by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) and the BBC found that between Oct. 8, 2023, and July 5, there have been more than 7,000 cross-border attacks, with Israel carrying out five times as many attacks as Hezbollah. This has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and fighters throughout the Middle East.
Aug. 1: Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, tells the press that the group’s conflict with Israel has “entered a new phase” following the assassination of senior commander Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah chief Fuad Shukr.
Sept. 17: Thousands of hand-held pagers belonging to Hezbollah operatives explode in Lebanon, killing at least 11 people and injuring over 2,000 others. Hezbollah said it holds Israel responsible for the attack and promises retaliation.
Read more from Yahoo News: Hezbollah leader vows to retaliate for 2 days of attacks on electronic devices in Lebanon
Sept. 23: IDF launches over 300 strikes on Lebanon, killing more than 550 people, including more than 60 women and children. IDF urges citizens near Hezbollah-controlled areas to evacuate.
What’s being said in the aftermath of Monday’s attack
Following Monday’s airstrikes, Netanyahu spoke to Lebanese citizens in a video message saying, “Israel’s war is not with you, it’s with Hezbollah. For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields.”
The Israeli military posted its own statement on social media, saying, “Over a million Israeli civilians are running to bomb shelters in Haifa as Hezbollah indiscriminately fires rockets. … This is why we are operating against Hezbollah who is continuously attacking our civilians.”
Hezbollah hasn’t issued a statement following the strikes, but on Sunday the group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem told the press that Hezbollah had entered a new phase in its conflict with Israel and that an “open-ended battle of reckoning” was beginning.
President Biden, who met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, president of the United Arab Emirates, on Monday morning told reporters that his team has been in communication with Israel and Lebanon. “We’re working to deescalate in a way that allows people to return to their home safely,” he said.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder announced Monday that the U.S. would send additional troops to the Middle East in response to the rise in tensions and violence between Israel and Hezbollah.
“It cannot be overstated enough,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N.’s special coordinator for Lebanon, said in a statement. “There is NO military solution that will make either side safer.”