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Hezbollah (; Arabic: حزب الله, romanized: Ḥizbu 'llāh, pronounced [ħizbu‿lːaːh], lit. 'Party of God') is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group. From 1992 until 2024, it was led by Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council. The entire organization, or its military wing alone, has been designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including most Western nations. Nasrallah was assassinated in an airstrike in Beirut in September 2024.
Hezbollah was established by Lebanese clerics primarily to fight the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It adopted the model set out by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Since then, close ties have developed between Iran and Hezbollah. The organization was created with the support of 1,500 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instructors, and aggregated a variety of Lebanese Shia groups into a unified organization. Hezbollah articulated its ideology in a 1985 manifesto published during the Lebanese Civil War, which outlined the group's key goals: the expulsion of Western influences, the destruction of Israel, allegiance to Iran's supreme leader, and the establishment of an Iran-influenced Islamist government, while emphasizing Lebanese self-determination. The group is believed to be responsible for the bombings of both the US embassy and the American and French barracks in Beirut in 1983, as well as later attacks, including bombings and hijackings. Hezbollah also participated in the 1985–2000 South Lebanon conflict against the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Israel, fighting the latter during the 2006 Lebanon War as well. During the 1990s, Hezbollah also organized volunteers to fight for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. Since 2012, Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian civil war has seen it join the Syrian government in its fight against the Syrian opposition, whose uprising Hezbollah described as a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy." Between 2013 and 2015, the organization deployed its paramilitary in both Syria and Iraq to fight and train local militias to fight against the Islamic State.
Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state", and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders. Since 1990, it has participated in Lebanese politics, in a process which is described as the Lebanonization of Hezbollah, and it later participated in the government of Lebanon and joined political alliances. After the 2006–08 Lebanese protests and clashes, a national unity government was formed in 2008, with Hezbollah and its opposition allies. In August 2008, Lebanon's new cabinet unanimously approved a policy statement that recognizes Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" (such as the Shebaa Farms). Hezbollah is part of Lebanon's March 8 Alliance, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. In the 2018 Lebanese general election, Hezbollah held 12 seats and its alliance won the election by gaining 70 out of 128 seats in the Parliament of Lebanon. Hezbollah is today a key player in the Lebanese political system, and its political wing, the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party, holds 15 seats in the Lebanese Parliament. . Hezbollah's support within Lebanon is limited, especially after being blamed for the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the obstruction of accountability efforts. According to a 2024 Arab Barometer survey, 55 percent of Lebanese have "no trust at all" in the group. Support remains concentrated primarily among the Shiite population.
Hezbollah did not disarm after the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1701. From 2006, the group's military strength grew significantly, with its paramilitary wing becoming more powerful than the Lebanese Army. The group currently receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran and political support from Syria, although the sectarian nature of the Syrian war has damaged the group's legitimacy. The group maintains strong alliances with the Iran-led coalition of militant groups across Gaza, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. It is considered the most heavily armed non-state group in the world, with its armed strength assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army in 2016. In 2021, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group had around 100,000 fighters.

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