Three things everyone should know about Hezbollah - analysis

The past week saw an escalation of attacks perpetrated by Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, against Israeli targets in the Galilee, including instances of incineration and attacks against military targets.

This comes in the midst of almost nine months of a ‘low-key’ armed conflict between Israel and its northern adversary, which made a strategic decision to join the war in Gaza not with a full on confrontation but rather in the form of a war of attrition, in an attempt to both garner support from Hamas sympathizers, and avoid major escalations on the other.

With all the talk in the political and military ranks regarding an imminent war, here are three main things everyone should know about the adversaries from the north.

1. Hezbollah harbors dangerous messianic convictions

The name “Hezbollah” translates literally as “The Party of God”. Based on a Qur’anic verse which reads “Verily the Party of God are they that shall be triumphant” (5:56), the name of this terror organization suggests its dangerous messianic convictions as if it were operating on behalf of a divine decree with heavenly providence, as well as the radical group’s political aspirations emphasized in its founding document: to establish a Shi’i led Islamic entity to replace the current Lebanese state, inspired by the model of the Islamic Republic’s “Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist.”

Historically, Hezbollah should also be seen as an actor who played part in the effort to block and reverse trends of liberalization amongst the Shi’i population in Lebanon following processes of urbanization during the 1970s and early 1980s, preaching instead for radicalist interpretations of political Shi’i Islam and challenging the Lebanese state.

For Hezbollah, the war against Israel and the West is a religious one, tantamount to a holy crusade. Drawing inspiration from radical interpretations of messianic Shi’a Islam, the group’s religious convictions are as dangerous as its aspirations and actions.

2. Hezbollah is a threat to Lebanon

Hezbollah is an armed force boasting deadly, sophisticated weapons, which operates on behalf of a foreign country, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran. This creates an irregular situation in which a movement within Lebanon wields significant military power and is not fully loyal to the state and its armed forces, thus directly challenging, or rather completely nullifying, the very sovereignty of the Lebanese state and military. 

Even today, many Lebanese who oppose entering a military confrontation with Israel admit that they have no control over the rogue radicalist force. These voices were amplified this week by Christian member of the Lebanese parliament Samy Gemayel, who deemed Lebanon as “hijacked,” admitting that the Lebanese have no method of impacting the situation in Southern Lebanon, and calling on the international community and Arab states to “protect Lebanon from from this catastrophe and help them liberate from the Iranian custodianship of Lebanon through Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah’s grip on the Lebanese state is further reinforced by the 2008 Qatari-sponsored Doha Agreement, in which Hezbollah gained a precious privilege in the form of vetoing any decision made by the Lebanese government, whether the terror group forms part of the ruling coalition or not. The agreement was reached following Hezbollah’s bloody takeover of several Sunni neighborhoods in Beirut that year, on the backdrop of the decision of the central government to dismantle Hezbollah’s internal communication network and dismiss an official at the international airport, after finding out the terror group had placed surveillance means on a runway dedicated to executive jets. Thus, Hezbollah blackmailed the Lebanese state to grant it a prized political prerogative using violent actions aimed inwards at fellow Lebanese, upon the mere sensing of alleged threats to their hegemony.

Another prerogative granted solely to the terror group by foreign powers was the Syrian endowment of Hezbollah as the only force who did not have to give up its arms and consolidate into the Lebanese army as part of the agreement to end the decades long civil war that tore the country up until 1989. Finally, Hezbollah’s name was also tied to the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, which the terrorist group denies for clear reasons.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah operates its own policing mechanisms through means of intimidation, threats, and sometimes even outright execution, of critics and dissidents. During the past months, instances of taking over houses of civilians from other Lebanese sects in order to shoot missiles and drones at Israel have also been documented; and reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, groups usually hostile to Israel, have accused Hezbollah of targeting civilians by shooting rockets from civilian areas. Hezbollah’s name was also tied to the terrible 2020 explosion caused by the ignition of immense amounts of poorly stored ammonium nitrate, and so far the group has been active in attempting to block an in-depth investigation of their role.

Hezbollah’s undermining of Lebanese sovereignty, loyalty to the Islamic Republic regime, prerogatives achieved by violence and foreign intervention, methods of intimidating their fellow citizens, and using them as human shields - all pose a threat to Lebanon and the Lebanese themselves.

3. Hezbollah is a threat to the world

The radical terror group was reportedly involved in carrying out numerous terror attacks resulting in the death of hundreds if not thousands around the globe. These include the the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings which left hundreds of US and French military personnel dead; the 1992 and 1994 bombings of the Jewish community center and Israeli embassy in Argentina; the 1994 bombing of an airplane in Panama; the 1996 explosions at the Khobar towers in Saudi Arabia, and the 2012 bus bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria. Additionally, other plots led by Hezbollah operatives were halted in Singapore and Egypt; and many Jewish institutions around the world are in constant alert for the fear of being targeted by the Iranian-backed radical group.

For this reason, it should come as no surprise that dozens of countries have recognized Hezbollah as a terror organization, from Western countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Switzerland, Czechia and the US; to Latin American countries including Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay; and even Arab international actors such as the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). 

Likewise, the UN has called numerous times for Hezbollah to disarm itself and comply with their part of the 1701 resolution, but the rogue Iranian proxy has declined to do so despite Israel’s withdrawal in accordance with the resolution.

Hezbollah's commitment to sowing chaos and destruction across the globe and assassinating civilians under orders of the Islamic Republic is yet another problematic aspect of its activities.

Much remains to be said about this perilous organization, from its garnering of income from trafficking hard drugs including cocaine and captagon; to its LGBTQ-phobic positions; its propaganda machine’s spewing of holocaust denial and antisemitic rhetoric, and even the environmental hazard it poses by incinerating hundreds of acres of greenery and carelessly storing hazardous materials and weaponry across Lebanon.

Ridding the Middle East from this destabilizing, terrorist, radical and murderous organization would benefit Lebanon, Israel, the region and the world, and grant stability and prosperity for years to come.