Title: Hezbollah | Counter Extremism Project
Headings: Hezbollah
Hezbollah
Overview
Also Known As:
Executive Summary:
Doctrine:
Allegiance to Iran
Anti-Israel Stance
Syria, ISIS, and the Broader Middle East
Social Role
Political Role
Organizational Structure:
Financing:
Iranian Support
Transnational Criminal Activities
Lebanese Ex-Patriates
Financial Sanctions
Recruitment and Training:
Recruitment
Training
Key Leaders
Hassan Nasrallah
Naim Qassem
Hussein al-Khalil
Mustafa Badreddine
Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyid
Hashem Safieddine
Mohamed Yazbik
Hassan Al Laqis
History
1982
Hezbollah emerges in Lebanon with Iranian support.
April 18, 1983
An explosives-filled pickup truck drives into the U.S. embassy in Beirut and explodes, killing Beirut kills 63 and wounding 120. It is the first Hezbollah attack to target American citizens.
October 23, 1983
Suicide truck bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut kills 241 U.S. service personnel.
September 20, 1984
A suicide car bomber blows up in the annex of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 24 and wounding dozens more.
Hezbollah emerges in Lebanon with Iranian support.
An explosives-filled pickup truck drives into the U.S. embassy in Beirut and explodes, killing Beirut kills 63 and wounding 120. It is the first Hezbollah attack to target American citizens.
Suicide truck bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut kills 241 U.S. service personnel.
A suicide car bomber blows up in the annex of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 24 and wounding dozens more.
Hezbollah publishes its founding manifesto, which declares the group’s loyalty to Iran’s supreme leader and intent to fight for the establishment of an Islamic regime in Lebanon.
Hezbollah launches its satellite news television station Al-Manar.
Hezbollah first enters Lebanese national elections and wins eight of 128 parliamentary seats.
An Israeli helicopter guns down Hezbollah leader Sayyad Abbas Musawi.
A suicide bomber detonates a pickup truck at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 29 and wounding 242.
A bomb at the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills over 80 and wounds 300.
Israel ends its occupation of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah ambushes a group of Israeli soldiers patrolling the Shebaa Farms area of the Golan Heights, capturing Benyamin Avraham, Adi Avitan, and Omar Sawaid.
A bombing in Beirut kills 22 people, including former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah is suspected of carrying out the attack.
On July 12, Hezbollah launches a cross-border raid into northern Israel, killing eight IDF soldiers and capturing two others.
A car bomb in Damascus kills Imad Fayez Mugniyah, considered Hezbollah’s top planner of worldwide terrorist operations.
Hezbollah launches bloody street battles against Lebanese forces after a government decision to dismantle the group’s private telephone network, which Hezbollah calls a declaration of war.
U.S. and Colombian authorities break up an international cocaine smuggling and money-laundering ring that allegedly used some of its profits to finance Hezbollah.
After a dispute with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri about indictments in the assassination of his father, Hezbollah quits Lebanon’s unity government, causing it to collapse.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues arrest warrants for four men, including two Hezbollah members, suspected in the 2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others.
A suicide bomber attacks a tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria, killing five Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian driver, and wounding 35 other Israeli tourists.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Hezbollah for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The U.S. Treasury sanctions Hassan Nasrallah, Talal Hamiyeh, and Mustafa Badreddine for supporting the Assad regime.
Hezbollah chief Nasrallah admits to Hezbollah’s role in the Syrian civil war and pledges to defend the Syrian regime.
The European Union labels Hezbollah’s armed wing a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah reportedly uses armed drones for the first time, attacking a Nusra Front target near the Lebanese-Syrian border.
An Israeli helicopter conducts a missile strike in Syria, killing five Hezbollah operatives.
Hezbollah launches an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military vehicle near the border with Lebanon, killing two Israeli soldiers.
Senior Hezbollah military commander Mustafa Badreddine is killed in artillery shelling in Damascus, Syria.
Lebanon’s parliament elects as president MP Michel Aoun—whose Free Patriotic Movement allied with Hezbollah in 2006.
On November 3, Prime Minister Saad Hariri flees to Saudi Arabia.
Morocco severs diplomatic and economic ties with Iran after accusing the regime of providing funding, weapons, and training to Polisario Front independence fighters in the Western Sahara.
In Lebanon’s first parliamentary elections since 2009, Hezbollah and its allies win 70 seats in Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament.
On September 19, Nasrallah declares that Hezbollah will remain in Syria indefinitely with the consent of the Syrian leadership.
Hassan Nasrallah says it has attained precision-guided missiles in spite of Israeli attempts to keep hi-tech weapons out of its hands.
Israel launches Operation Northern Shield, an operation intended to “expose and destroy” a series of tunnels it says Hezbollah dug into Israel from Lebanon.
After an eight-month delay, Lebanese leaders announce the formation of a new governing coalition led by Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.
Britain says it plans to ban all wings of Hezbollah due to its destabilizing influence in the Middle East, classifying the group as a terrorist organization.
Israeli officials claim Ali Mussa Daqduq, a Hezbollah operative accused of killing five U.S. troops in 2007, is establishing a terror network in the disputed Golan Heights, spotlighting threats the militant group poses to its security as the Netanyahu government pushes for sovereignty over the strategic area.
A court in Bahrain sentences 139 people for terrorism offenses.
A court in the United Arab Emirates sentences six Lebanese men, four of them for life and the two others for 10 years each, for setting up a terrorist cell with links to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Israel launches airstrikes near Homs, targeting a research center and a military airport.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claims that the group has reduced its forces in Syria although it still has fighters all over the country.
Israel’s U.N. ambassador Danny Danon claims that in 2018 and 2019, “Israel found that Iran and the Quds Force shave begun to advance the exploitation of civilian maritime channels” and that Beirut port “is now the Port of Hezbollah.”
The District Court of the District of Columbia sentences Kassim Tajideen to five years in prison and orders him to forfeit $50 million.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that two members of Hezbollah and one Iranian are killed in Israeli strikes near Damascus.
Israeli warplanes strike targets in Aqraba, where Iran was preparing to attack Israel using explosive-laden “killer drones.”
Two drones crash into the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area that is home to many supporters of Hezbollah.
The U.S. considers intensifying sanctions against Hezbollah by placing sanctions on both direct affiliates and allies of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Federal prosecutors indict Alexei Saab on terrorism charges.
Twitter suspends accounts belonging to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV network, including accounts in English, French, and Spanish.
Hezbollah threatens revenge against the United States after a U.S. airstrike killed IRGC-Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq on January 3.
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab convenes his new government, which includes two Hezbollah ministers and members of Hezbollah-allied parties.
In early April, the Israeli military accuses Syria of helping Hezbollah build a permanent military presence in the Syrian Golan Heights.
In mid-July, 235 legislators from the European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, United States, Canada, and Israel sign a declaration calling on the European Union to ban Hezbollah in its entirety.
Hezbollah operative Ali Kamel Mohsin is killed after a series of airstrikes south of Damascus against weapons depots and military positions belonging to Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed militia fighters.
On August 4, 2020, an explosion in Beirut’s port kills at least 200 people, wounds more than 6,000 others, and destroys much of the port.
The STL finds Ayyash guilty of all charges against him.
Hezbollah and Amal stall the formation of a new Lebanese government by demanding several top ministries.
Following the November 27 assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Iran, Nasrallah reportedly cancels all travel plans and intends to remain in one undisclosed location out of concern Israel might target him.
Nasrallah praises “the humiliating downfall” of U.S. President Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election and warns “the axis of resistance should be in a state of high readiness to respond twice as hard in case of any American or Israeli folly.”
Israeli forces shoot down a Hezbollah drone in Israeli airspace.
On February 1, al-Manar publishes video of what it claims to be a downed Israeli drone.
The STL schedules a new trial for Ayyash in relation to the attacks on Lebanese politicians Marwan Hamadeh, Georges Hawi, and Elias El-Murr between October 2004 and July 2005.
On April 23, Saudi Arabian authorities seize more than 5 million Captagon pills hidden in a pomegranate shipment from Lebanon.
Hezbollah opens a chain of discount supermarkets in Lebanon called “Al-Sajjad,” after the Shiite cleric Imam Ali Al-Sajjad.
The Israeli military shoots down a Hezbollah unmanned drone in Israeli airspace, the second Hezbollah drone the IDF brought down in the span of a few weeks.
On May 7, Nasrallah signals his support for renewed talks between Iran and the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Hezbollah raises its military readiness levels as Israel announces military drills in its northern parts.
Three rockets are fired toward Israel from near the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
Israeli forces open fire on a group of people attempting to cut into the Israeli border fence in Lebanon.
Israeli television station Kan reports Hezbollah has dug a series of tunnels hundreds of kilometers long from Beirut to southern Lebanon.
In a televised speech marking the anniversary of Israel’s 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon, Nasrallah warns any aggression against Jerusalem or its holy sites would result in regional war.
Violent Activities
Violence against Israel
Violence in Lebanon
Transnational Violence
TWA Flight 847
Argentina:
Bahrain:
Bulgaria:
Cyprus:
Syria:
Venezuela:
Other International Terrorist Activity:
Other Criminal Activities:
Colombia:
Mexico:
United States:
Other Transnational Criminal Activity:
Designations
Designations by the U.S. Government:
Designations by Foreign Governments and Organizations:
Associations
Ties to Extremist Entities designated by the U.S. or foreign governments:
Ties to other entities:
Associations or networks between group and terrorist actions/organizations:
Political connections to U.S. or global leaders:
Ties to Lebanese leaders:
Media Coverage
Arab Media
Israeli Media
Western Media
Rhetoric
Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General, May 25, 2021
Naim Qassem, Deputy Leader, April 2020
Hashem Safieddine, Head of Executive Assembly, May 19, 2020
Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General, July 17, 2019
Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General, August 15, 2018
Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General, September 20, 2018
Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General, September 20, 2018
Abdallah Safi-Al-Din, 2005
Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General, December 7, 2017
Daily Dose
Fact:
CEP on Twitter

Content: Argentina, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia also designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 2019 and 2020. Doctrine: The Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah (“the Party of God”) emerged in Lebanon in 1982 following Israel’s invasion to halt cross-border guerilla attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization. Hezbollah’s stated goal was to fight “for the liberation of the occupied territories and the ejection of the aggressive Israeli forces.” * “Q & A: Leaving Lebanon,” BBC News, May 23, 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/636594.stm. ×
Its ideology was modeled on Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1979 Iranian revolution. As counterterrorism expert Matt Levitt notes, within the setting of the Lebanese civil war, “the 1982 Israeli invasion and subsequent occupation of southern Lebanon created the space in which Iranian diplomats and agents could help fashion the unified entity Hezbollah from a motley crew of Shi’a militias and groups.” * Matthew Levitt, “The origins of Hezbollah,” Atlantic, October 23, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/10/the-origins-of-hezbollah/280809/. ×
Iran thus viewed the rise of Hezbollah as an opportunity to extend its influence, cultivating Hezbollah as a proxy force, providing funding, training, and weaponry through Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Hezbollah pledged its loyalty to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and modeled its ideology on Khomeini’s 1979 Iranian revolution. *