HEZBOLLAH

CASE STUDY

Key Concepts:
Power, human rights, conflict, violence,
legitimacy
 THE ORGANIZATION
The Hezbollah, which translates to the Party of God, is a Shia
Islamist political, military, and social organization. It was created
after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 and the Israeli invasion of
Lebanon in 1982 during the Lebanese Civil War, with the goal of
pushing Israel out of Lebanon and establishing an Islamic republic in
the country. With the help of Iran, the Shia leaders favouring a
militant response to the Israeli invasion that was part of the Amal
movement – Lebanese Shia political party and militia – left the
party and formed their own organization, initially named the Islamic
Amal and later developing into the Hezbollah.
The organization was officially announced in 1985 when they
published an open letter which declared the US and the USSR as
their main enemies and stated their goal of obliterating Israel
under the claim that it was occupying Muslim lands. The Civil War in
the country ended with the Tail Accord in 1989, and one of the
terms of the treaty was the disarmament of militias. In order to
maintain its arms, Hezbollah rebranded itself as an Islamic
Resistance force dedicated to ending Israel’s occupation until the
year 2000, when Israel finally withdrew from the country.

Even then, Hezbollah resisted pressure to disarm

and instead continued to strengthen its military
and became a fixture of the Lebanese
government in 1992. The organization oversees
many social services in the country relating to
infrastructure, healthcare, education and more,
and is now considered the most powerful non-
state actor in the world. Hassan
Nasrallah
 ITS INFLUENCE
POLITICAL AND
HARD POWER
SOFT POWER
Hezbollah has been part of the Hezbollah is one of the most
Lebanese government since heavily armed non-state actors
1992 and has held cabinet in the world, holding an arsenal
positions since 2005. In 2018, a estimated to hold up to
government was set up under a 100,000 rockets amongst
Hezbollah-led coalition and is many other weapons including
currently a major player in the precision missiles, drones and
country’s political decisions and anti-tanks, anti-aircraft and
goals. Although it does not anti-ship missiles. Its arms and
currently hold a majority in the money come from Iran, which
parliament, it has enough seats the US estimates to amount to
to veto any resolution that hundreds of millions of dollars
doesn’t align with its interests. annually. In 2022, it was
Because of the group’s hard estimated that the group has
stance against Israel, it has up to 20,000 fighters, most of
gained a lot of support from whom have experience fighting
Lebanese Shia groups and has in the Syrian Civil War and are
inspired and supported other hence extremely battle-
Iranian-backed groups in the hardened.
Middle East. Nonetheless,
Hezbollah’s main form of power
is its military.
 ATTACKS
April 1983 – suicide truck bombings
of the US Embassy in Beirut

October 1983 – bombing of US

Marine barracks in Beirut

September 1984 – bombing of US

Embassy annex in Beirut

1985 – hijacking of flight TWA 847

1996 – Khobar Towers attack in

Saudi Arabia

July 2006 – 7-day war with Israel

FOREIGN
INVOLVEMENT
-The US, UK, Germany, Arab League and Israel are among
many countries that recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist group
-The EU has only designated Hezbollah’s military wing as a
terrorist organization
-Countries banning the transfer of funds to Hezbollah:
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Israel, Japan, New Zealand,
Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK and the US
 SITUATION IN
LEBANON

ECONOMIC POLITICAL
-4th year of economic crisis -Elections in 2023 led to no
-The crisis ranks amongst the significant change in the political
“most severe crises episodes structure
globally since the mid-nineteenth -Established parties did not make
century” any commitments to improve the
-80% of the population living in protection of human rights
poverty -Decades of mismanagement
-Currency lost over 95% of its and corruption in the electricity
pre-crisis value sector, meaning the state is
-Food prices rose by 483% from unable to provide more than two
January 2021 to January 2022 to three hours of electricity per
-Fuel shortages day
-Skyrocketing prices of -No one was held accountable
electricity, water, and gas by for the explosion in Beirut’s port
595% between June 2021 and in August 2020 and official
June 2022. documents suggest the
-Median household monthly government was aware of the
income was 122 dollars in 2022. chemicals in the port and the
70% of households said they had fatal risk it posed but still
difficulty making ends meet or accepted it. This is a violation of
were always behind on basic the right to life. The repression
expenses. of the investigation shows
Lebanon’s corrupt political
system
SITUATION IN LEBANON

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
-Schools struggling to operate due to resignations and strikes by teachers,
electricity and internet cuts and inflation
-Most public schools have been closed for the last 3 years
-The healthcare sector is crippled with the migration of thousands of doctors
and nurses from Lebanon, shortage in medicine and medical supplies and
electricity cuts
-The NSSF, the largest employment-based provider of social services is nearly
bankrupt and has not been reimbursing subscribers for medical bills
-Lebanese soldiers are resigning with the fall of wages and thus less security
needs are met
-Under-funded social protection system
-Migration
-Lack of reliable and continuous electricity has impacted people’s right to
electricity, adequate living standards, medical care, food water and education
-Torture by security forces
-Censorship in the media – journalists, media workers and activists are silenced
by private actors and government authorities
-Women face discrimination under 15 religion-based personal status laws.
Includes inequality in access to divorce, child custody and inheritance, and
property rights
-Increasing number of femicide and domestic violence
-Discrimination against LGBTQ+ - article 534 of the penal code punishes “any
sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature” with up to one year in prison
-Authorities have repeatedly interfered with human rights events related to
gender and sexuality. In June 2023, Lebanese authorities unlawfully banned
peaceful gatherings of LGBTQ+ people
 SYRIAN CIVIL WAR
What is it?

The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing conflict that started in 2011

between insurgent groups and Bashar Al-Assad’s government.
Since the beginning of the armed internal and internationalized
conflict, Hezbollah has been an active supporter of Al-Assad’s
regime, mainly because the fall of his regime would
compromise the land route that connects Hezbollah to Iran,
which is the party’s main ally, and this could threaten the
party’s collapse.

Hezbollah’s involvement:

In the first year of the war, the group’s involvement was

limited to protecting the Lebanon-Syria border and the
logistics routes to maintain the circulation of weapons and
goods and escalated to sending troops in 2012 to push back
Sunni armed groups. The involvement of the group in this
conflict was gradual and not initially disclosed to the public as
their rhetoric was based on defending their territory against
Israel, which didn’t justify their fighting outside national
borders against Muslim civilians. They stopped concealing their
involvement in 2013 and their leader, Nasrallah changed their
rhetoric to protecting the holy shrines of Shiite Islam.
SYRIAN CIVIL WAR

Impact on the support for the movement:

The shift of focus from Israel to Syria made them lose

popular support amongst the Arab public, who initially
backed them because of their strict opposition to the
Israeli invasions. As an effort to maintain legitimacy and
support, Hezbollah used the emergence of the Islamic State
in 2014 and the terrorizing scenes it brought to propel its
anti-takfiri rhetoric, portraying itself as a protector of
minorities against radical Islam and that its intervention in
Syria to combat the threat of the Islamic State and radical
Sunnis. This helped support its legitimacy and prevent it
from losing support from parts of the Lebanese, Arab and
Muslim populations.

Impact of their involvement:

Throughout the conflict, Hezbollah committed many atrocities

against civilians and lost 2000 out of its 8000 fighters that
went to Syria, more than the number of casualties of fighting
Israel, which made the public opinion shift against it.
Furthermore, as Hezbollah was focused on Syria, Lebanon was
left reeling in an economic, social and health crisis, meaning
their local support was crippling with their increased
internationalization.
 ISRAEL-
HAMAS WAR
Hezbollah has gotten involved in the ongoing Israel-Hamas
War, expressing its opposition to Israel and support for the
Palestinians and the Hamas group.

Hezbollah’s involvement:

Hezbollah has been involved in the war by targeting and

destroying Israel’s surveillance system, destroying Israeli
surveillance towers and eavesdropping devices that are
used to monitor movement along the Lebanese border.

How this is benefitting the movement:

The war has been beneficial for the group, as they regained
recognition from many Arabs as the biggest resistance
movement against Israeli occupation, restoring its popularity
amongst the supporters of Palestine, who now chant for the
organization in their pro-Palestine demonstrations.
Furthermore, the use of direct violence against Israel has
demonstrated the group remains firmly opposed to Israel
and continues on its mission to “free” the territory
“occupied” by Israel, which has had a positive popular
response amongst many in the Arab population. Additionally,
the war is serving to strengthen the alliance and partnership
between members of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, which
is very important for Hezbollah to continue receiving arms
and financial aid from its supporters.
 ISRAEL-
HAMAS WAR

Concerns:

Still, there are concerns among the Lebanese regarding

Hezbollah’s involvement in the war. There is fear that if Israel
defeats Hamas it may take up war against the Hezbollah in
Lebanon, which would further cripple the already fragile
economy in the country. Furthermore, the Christian
community has expressed worry that Israel’s deporting of
Palestinians from Gaza could prevent Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon from returning to their homeland, thus staying in
Lebanon and further weakening the power of the Christian
minority in the country. Nonetheless, the scope of Hezbollah’s
involvement in Gaza is expected to escalate as the conflict
continues to evolve.
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