GS Paper - II
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah exchanged fire in the early hours of 25 August 2024, in one of the largest cross-border attacks in months.
Ever since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has pledged allegiance to the Palestinian cause and opposed Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza.
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ü On 25 August 2024, the group reportedly launched hundreds of rockets and drones, while Israel said it sent 100 jets to thwart a bigger attack.
ü Hezbollah’s offensive was in retaliation for Israel assassinating Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in July this year. While Hezbollah reported three casualties, Israel said it had none.
ü On 25 August 2024, Hezbollah deployed a wide range of weapons, from Katyusha rockets to anti-tank missiles.
What is Hezbollah?
ü Hezbollah translates to “Party of God”. The think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has previously described it as “The world’s most heavily armed non-state actor, with a large and diverse stockpile of unguided artillery rockets, as well as ballistic, antiair, antitank, and antiship missiles.”
ü In modern history, Lebanon was under a French mandate until 1943. After it ended, important official posts, such as Prime Minister and President of the country, were reserved for people of particular religious denominations given the diversity within the population.
ü Hezbollah originated during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), which was a result of “long-simmering discontent over the large, armed Palestinian presence in the country”, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
ü Lebanon borders Israel to its north. Amid its internal ethnic and religious divisions, the arrival of Palestinian refugees from 1948 onwards — after the creation of Israel as a state for Jewish people that year — led to added tensions. Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon in 1978 and again in 1982 to expel Palestinian guerrilla fighters.
ü Hezbollah was formed around this time, inspired by the formation of a theocratic Islamic government in Iran in 1979.
ü Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also provided funding to the group.
What are Hezbollah’s aims?
ü It opposes Israel and Western influence in the Middle East. Hezbollah’s positioning also reflects West Asia’s two major powers and their rivalry – the Sunni Muslim-dominated Saudi Arabia and the majority Shia Muslim-dominated Iran.
ü The US, which is a staunch ally of Israel and Saudi Arabia, estimates that Iran supplies hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to Hezbollah and that it has thousands of fighters.
ü Hezbollah became more visible in Lebanese politics in the mid-2000s and currently holds 13 of the 128 seats in the country’s Parliament.
ü Along with its allies, it forms the ruling government. But in recent years, many in Lebanon have protested against it amid worsening poverty, unemployment and government debt.
