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Hezbollah[1] (Arabic: حزب الله ḥizbu-llāh, [2] literally "party of God") is a Shi'a Islamic political and paramilitary organization based in Lebanon. It follows an Islamist Shi'a ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.[3][4][5] [6][7]

Hezbollah first emerged during the Lebanese Civil War as a militia of Shia followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini, trained, organized and funded by a contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.[8] Hezbollah's three main goals are to eradicate Western colonialism in Lebanon, to bring to justice those who committed atrocities during the war (specifically the Phalangists), and to establish an Islamic government in Lebanon.[9][10][11][5] Hezbollah has realized that the goal of transforming Lebanon into an Islamic state is not practical at this time and has temporarily abandoned it.[8] Also, Hezbollah wishes for the destruction of Israel, which they see as being an unlawful "entity", and not a real nation.[9][10][11][5]

Six countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, officially list Hezbollah or its external security arm as a terrorist organization, though its designation as such is not unanimous among world powers (perhaps most notably, the European Union).[12] Most in the Arab and Muslim worlds regard Hezbollah as a legitimate resistance movement.[3]

Hezbollah has popular support in Shi'a Lebanese society[13] and has mobilized demonstrations of hundreds of thousands.[14][15][16] In addition, Hezbollah receives arms, training, and financial support from Iran[17][18] and has "operated with Syria's blessing" since the end of the Civil War.[14][19] Hezbollah, which started with only a militia, has grown to an organization which has seats in the Lebanese government, a radio- and a satellite television-station, and programs for social development.[20] Since 1992, the organization has been headed by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.


Hezbollah is one of two major political parties in Lebanon that represent the Shiites, Lebanon's largest religious group. It holds 14 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's Parliament and is a member of the Resistance and Development Bloc.

Hezbollah organizes an extensive social development program and runs hospitals, news services, and educational facilities.[17] Its Reconstruction Campaign ('Jihad Al Binna') is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon.[21]

Ending Israel's occupation of Southern Lebanon was the primary focus of Hezbollah's early activities.[14] Israel had become militarily involved in Lebanon in combat with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had moved into Southern Lebanon after being ousted from Jordan. The PLO had been attacking Israel from Southern Lebanon in the lead-up to the 1982 Lebanon War, and Israel had invaded and occupied Southern Lebanon and besieged Beirut.

Then Hezbollah tried to expel Israel from Lebanon. At the beginning, it had used suicide attacks against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and also against Jewish and Israeli targets outside of Lebanon.[22] Hezbollah is reputed to have been among the first Islamic resistance groups to use tactical suicide bombing, assassination and capturing against foreign soldiers in the Middle East.[8][14] But gradually, Hezbollah turned into a paramilitary organization and used missiles, Katyusha and other type of rocket launchers and detonations of explosive charges[4][23][24] instead of capturings,[25][26][27] murders,[26] hijackings,[28] and bombings.[28][29][30] Hezbollah has been subject to assassination and abduction by Israel as well.[28] Hezbollah's violent acts are characterized by some countries as terrorist attacks, while others regard them as a resistance movement engaged in defensive Jihad."[31][32] Human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Hezbollah of committing war crimes against Israeli civilians.[33]

Supporters of Hezbollah justify Hezbollah's attacks against Israel on several grounds. Firstly, Hezbollah justifies its operations against Israel as reciprocal to Israeli operations against Lebanese civilians and as retaliation for Israel's occupation of Lebanese territory.[34][35][36] Many of these attacks took place while Israel occupied the southern part of Lebanon and held it as a security zone in spite of United Nations Security Council Resolution 425. Although Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, and their complete withdrawal was verified by the United Nations, Lebanon now considers the Shebaa farms, a 26-km2 (10-mi2) piece of land captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 war and considered by the UN to be disputed territory between Syria and Israel, to be Lebanese territory. Additionally, Hezbollah has identified three Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails who it wants released.[37] Finally, Hezbollah and others among the Muslim world consider Israel to be an illegitimate state. For these reasons, many in the Arab world consider acts performed by Hezbollah against Israel to be justified as acts of defensive Jihad.[38][28] Although some Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia) have condemned Hezbollah's actions, saying that "the Arabs and Muslims can't afford to allow an irresponsible and adventurous organization like Hezbollah to drag the region to war" and calling it "dangerous adventurism,"[39] Hezbollah is regarded as a legitimate resistance movement throughout much of Lebanese society and the Arab and Muslim world, with an emphasis on "calls for the destruction of Israel."[40] Three-quarters of Lebanese Christians identified Hezbollah as a legitimate group in challenging Israeli aggression.[41][42]

In contrast, the United States, Israel, and four other countries consider Hezbollah wholly or partly a terrorist organization. The European Union does not list Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization",[43] but does list Imad Mugniyah, a senior member and founder of Hezbollah, as a terrorist.[44]


  Ideology
Main article: Hezbollah Ideology
On February 16, 1985, Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin issued Hezbollah's manifesto. According to this manifesto (titled "An Open Letter: The Hizballah Program"), the three objectives of the organization are:[9]

To expel Americans, the French and their allies (sic) definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land.
To submit the phalanges to a just power and bring them all to justice for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and Christians.
To permit all the sons of our people to determine their future and to choose in all the liberty the form of government they desire. We call upon all of them to pick the option of Islamic government which alone is capable of guaranteeing justice and liberty for all. Only an Islamic regime can stop any future tentative attempts of imperialistic infiltration onto our country.
The 1985 manifesto makes it clear that Hezbollah intends to use armed force to achieve these goals and phrases its argument for this measure through the language of defensive jihad:[45]

  Hezbollah's Shi'a Islamic doctrine
Hezbollah was formed in the early eighties, largely with the aid of the Ayatollah Khomeini's followers, in order to spread Islamic revolution[46]. It follows a distinct version of Islamic Shi'a ideology (“Willayat Al-Faqih”) developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.[4][5][3][6][7]

Translated excerpts from Hezbollah's original 1985 manifesto read:

We are the sons of the umma (Muslim community) ...
... We are an ummah linked to the Muslims of the whole world by the solid doctrinal and religious connection of Islam, whose message God wanted to be fulfilled by the Seal of the Prophets, i.e., Muhammad. Our behavior is dictated to us by legal principles laid down by the light of an overall political conception defined by the leading jurist....As for our culture, it is based on the Holy Koran, the Sunna and the legal rulings of the faqih who is our source of imitation...[9]
Although Hezbollah originally aimed to transform Lebanon into an Islamic republic, this goal has been abandoned. Nasrallah has been quoted as saying, "We believe the requirement for an Islamic state is to have an overwhelming popular desire, and we're not talking about fifty percent plus one, but a large majority. And this is not available in Lebanon and probably never will be."[8] Doubts, however, remain.[47][19][48] Since that time, Hezbollah has transformed from a revolutionary movement to a socio-political movement of Lebanese Shia and has accepted the multi-cultural situation of Lebanon. This transformation is known as "Lebanonization".[49] However, Hezbollah is not satisfied with the multi-confessional quotas under the Ta'if Accord, due to the fact that Shia's position in the state is lower than its proportion of population. Hezbollah believes in a one-person-one-vote system, but does not intend to force it onto the other minorities.[50]


Attitudes, statements, and actions concerning Israel

From the inception of Hezbollah to the present,[9][8][51][52][53] the elimination of the State of Israel has been one of Hezbollah's primary goals. Its 1985 manifesto reportedly states "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated."[9][54] In an interview with the Washington Post, Nasrallah said "I am against any reconciliation with Israel. I do not even recognize the presence of a state that is called 'Israel.'[55] Throughout its history, Hezbollah has made statements and actions against the United States, in part because of the United States' support for Israel.[56]

Israel's occupation of the Shebaa Farms, along with the presence of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, is often cited as justification – and invoked as a pretext, according to many[57][58][59] – for Hezbollah's continued hostilities against Israel even after Israel's verified withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah's spokesperson Hassan Ezzedin, however, had this to say about an Israeli withdrawal from Sheba Farms: "If they go from Shebaa, we won't stop fighting them. ... Our goal is to liberate the 1948 borders of Palestine, ... The Jews who survive this war of liberation can go back to Germany or wherever they came from. However, that the Jews who lived in Palestine before 1948 will be 'allowed to live as a minority and they will be cared for by the Muslim majority."[60]

Hezbollah has declared that it distinguishes between Zionism and Judaism. Hezbollah MP Abdallah Qussayr stated that "Hezbollah has never been against religions. Hezbollah supports all religions, it supports interfaith dialogue, and it has no problem with any religion. Hezbollah considers Zionism to be the enemy, not the Jews as a people or a religion."[61] Others have attributed anti-Jewish statements to Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah was quoted as saying "if [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."[62][63]

In a 2003 interview, Nasrallah answered questions concerning the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside an Israeli state, stating that he would "... not sabotage what is finally a Palestinian matter." But until such a settlement is reached, he said that he would continue to encourage Palestinian suicide bombers."[64] Similarly, in 2004, when asked whether he was prepared to live with a two-state settlement between Israel and Palestine, Nasrallah said again that he would not sabotage what is a Palestinian matter.[8] He also said that outside of Lebanon, Hezbollah would act only in a defensive manner towards Israeli forces, and that Hezbollah's missiles were acquired to deter attacks on Lebanon


Organization

The nature of Hezbollah's organization is disputed. Many Hezbollah leaders have maintained that the movement was "not an organization, for its members carry no cards and bear no specific responsibilities", [66] and that the movement does not have "a clearly defined organizational structure."

However, Hezbollah scholar Magnus Ranstorp reports that Hezbollah does indeed have a formal governing structure, and in keeping with the principle of velayat-e faqih, it "concentrate[s] ... all authority and powers" in its religious leaders, whose decisions then "flow from the ulama down the entire community."

The supreme decision-making bodies of the Hezbollah were divided between the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Assembly) which was headed by 12 senior clerical members with responsibility for tactical decisions and supervision of overall Hizballah activity throughout Lebanon, and the Majlis al-Shura al-Karar (the Deciding Assembly), headed by Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah and composed of eleven other clerics with responsibility for all strategic matters. Within the Majlis al-Shura, there existed seven specialized committees dealing with ideological , financial, military and political, judicial, informational and social affairs. In turn, the Majlis al-Shura and these seven committees were replicated in each of Hizballah's three main operational areas (the Beqaa, Beirut, and the South). [67]

Since the Supreme Leader of Iran is the ultimate clerical authority, Hezbollah's leaders have appealed to him "for guidance and directives in cases when Hezbollah's collective leadership [was] too divided over issues and fail[ed] to reach a consensus." After the death of Iran's first Supreme Leader, Khomeini, Hezbollah's governing bodies developed a more "independent role" and appealed to Iran less often.


Political activities

Hezbollah, along with the Amal Movement, represents most of the Shi'a community in Lebanon.[69] However, unlike Amal, Hezbollah has not disarmed. Hezbollah participates in the Parliament of Lebanon. In the general election of 2005, it won 10.9% of parliamentary seats. The Resistance and Development Bloc, of which Hezbollah is a member, won all 23 seats in Southern Lebanon, and in total, 35 seats, or 27.3% of parliamentary seats nationwide.[70] When municipal elections were held in the first half of 2004, Hezbollah won control of 21% of the municipalities.[50]

Although Hezbollah had joined the new government in 2005, it remained staunchly opposed to the March 14 Alliance.[71] In November 2006, Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and the Amal Movement jointly demanded the establishment of a "national unity government",[72][73] in which they demanded early elections and one third of the Cabinet seats; effectively, veto power.[74][75] When negotiations with the ruling coalition failed, five Cabinet Ministers from Hezbollah and Amal resigned their positions. On December 1, 2006, these groups began the 2006–present Lebanese revolt, an ongoing series of protests and sit-ins in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Military activities
Main article: Hezbollah military activities
Hezbollah has a military branch known as Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya ("The Islamic Resistance") and is the possible sponsor of a number of lesser-known militant groups, some of which may be little more than fronts for Hezbollah itself, including the Organization of the Oppressed, the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammad.[76][4][77]

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 called for the disarmament of militia[78] with the Taif agreement at the end of the Lebanese civil war. Hezbollah denounced, and protested against, the resolution.[14][79] The 2006 military conflict with Israel has increased the controversy. Failure to disarm remains a violation of the resolution and agreement.[80] Most of the Shia consider Hezbollah's weaponry a necessary and justified element of resistance, while less than half of the other religious communities support the idea that Hezbollah should keep its weapons after the 2006 Lebanon war

Bombings, terrorism and kidnappings
Hezbollah has been accused by some countries of being responsible for a number of attacks and kidnappings carried out since its founding in the early 1980s.[82][83][84] These include:

April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing [85]
1983 Beirut barracks bombing,[82][84], alleged by the US to be the work of Hezbollah; elsewhere, opinion is not unanimous[85]
kidnappings of Western, especially American, targets in the 80s,[84], mostly alleged by the US, Israel, and Canada, while others allege that other groups were responsible
the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985[82] by a group with alleged links to Hezbollah
the accusations of researcher Robert A. Pape that "from 1982 to 1986, Hezbollah conducted 36 suicide terrorist attacks, involving a total of 41 attackers, against American, French, and Israeli political and military targets in Lebanon ... Altogether, these attacks killed 659 people, most of whom were off-duty soldiers in no position to defend themselves, such as the 241 U.S. Marines who were killed as they slept." [86]
the 1992 Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina[82][84]
the 1994 AMIA bombing of a Jewish cultural centre, also in Argentina.[82]
These accusations are denied by Hezbollah.


Conflict against Israel
Hezbollah has been involved in several cases of armed conflict against Israel:

During the 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict, Hezbollah waged a guerrilla campaign against Israeli forces occupying Southern Lebanon. It ended with Israeli withdrawal in accordance with 1978's United Nations Security Council Resolution 425.[90]
On July 25, 1993, following the killing of seven Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, Israel launched Operation Accountability (known in Lebanon as the Seven Day War), during which the IDF carried out their heaviest artillery and air attacks on targets in southern Lebanon since 1982. The declared aim of the operation was to eradicate the threat posed by Hezbollah and to force the civilian population north to Beirut so as to put pressure on the Lebanese Government to repress Hezbollah. The fighting ended when an unwritten understanding was agreed to by the warring parties . Apparently, the 1993 understanding provided that Hezbollah combatants would not fire rockets at northern Israel, while Israel would not attack civilians or civilian targets in Lebanon.[91]
In April 1996, the Israeli armed forces launched Operation Grapes of Wrath, which was intended to wipe out Hezbollah's base in southern Lebanon. International condemnation greeted the massacre on 18 April 1996 of over 100 Lebanese refugees in a UN base at Qana, in what the Israeli military said was a mistake.[92] Finally, following several days of negotiations, the two sides signed the Grapes of Wrath Understandings on April 26, 1996. A cease-fire was agreed upon between Israel and Hezbollah, which would be effective on April 27, 1996. Both sides agreed that civilians should not be targeted, which meant that Hezbollah would be allowed to continue its military activities against IDF forces inside Lebanon.[50] [93]
On May 24, 2000, after the collapse of the SLA and the rapid advance of Hezbollah forces, Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon, more than six weeks before its stated deadline of 7 July."[28] Hezbollah and many other Lebanese considered this to be a victory, after which Hezbollah's popularity in Lebanon rose.[94]
In 2001, Hezbollah abducted and murdered 3 Israeli soldiers, the bodies of which were exchanged for Lebanese captives in 2004.
Hezbollah's desire for Israeli prisoners that could be exchanged with Israel led to Hezbollah's abduction of Israeli soldiers, which triggered the 2006 Lebanon War.[95]
The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. The conflict started on July 12, 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect on August 14, 2006. Hezbollah was responsible for thousands of Katyusha rocket attacks against Israeli civilian towns and cities in northern Israel.[83]

  Armed strength
See also: Hezbollah rocket force
Hezbollah has not revealed its armed strength. It has been estimated by Mustafa Alani, security director at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, that Hezbollah's military force is made up of about 1,000 full-time Hezbollah members, along with a further 6,000-10,000 volunteers.[96]

Hezbollah possesses the Katyusha-122 rocket, which has a range of 29 km (18 mi) and carries a 15 kg (33 lb) warhead. Hezbollah also possesses about 100 long-range missiles. They include the Iranian-made Fajr-3 and Fajr-5, the latter with a range of 75 km (47 mi), enabling it to strike the Israeli port of Haifa, and the Zelzal-1, with an estimated 150 km (93 mi) range, which can reach Tel Aviv. Fajr-3 missiles have a range of 40 km (25 mi) and a 45 kg (99 lb) warhead, and Fajr-5 missiles, which extend to 72 km (45 mi), also hold 45 kg (99 lb) warheads.[96]

According to various reports, Hezbollah is armed with anti-tank guided missiles, namely, the Russian-made AT-3 Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-5 Spandrel, AT-13 Saxhorn-2 'Metis-M', АТ-14 Spriggan 'Kornet'; Iranian-made Ra'ad (version of AT-3 Sagger), Towsan (version of AT-5 Spandrel), Toophan (version of BGM-71 TOW); and European-made MILAN missiles. These weapons have been used against IDF soldiers, causing many of the deaths during the 2006 Lebanon War.[97]

For air defense, Hezbollah has anti-aircraft weapons that include the ZU-23 artillery and the man-portable, shoulder-fired SA-7 and SA-18 surface-to-air missile (SAM).[98] One of the most effective weapons deployed by Hezbollah has been the C-802 anti-ship missile.[99]

During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired 3,970 rockets into Northern Israel in the course of a month, killing 43 Israeli civilians.[100] Hezbollah officials have stated that the group's armaments have recovered fully from the previous war; during the Divine Victory rally, held shortly after the cease-fire, Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared that the group has "more than 20,000 rockets available".[101] He also spoke in retrospect of the war, saying "Tel Aviv or elsewhere, we were certain that we could reach any corner or spot in occupied Palestine and now we are certain that we can reach them." (sic)[102] Nasrallah has also implied that Hezbollah's rocket force became stronger in the months following the 2006 Lebanon War than it had been during the war itself.[103]


  Targeting policy
Hezbollah has not been involved in any suicide bombing since Israel withdrew from Lebanon.[104][105] After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hezbollah condemned Al Qaeda for targeting the civilian World Trade Center, but remained silent on the attack on the The Pentagon, neither favoring nor opposing the act.[106][8] Hezbollah also denounced the Armed Islamic Group massacres in Algeria, Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya attacks on tourists in Egypt,[107] and the murder of Nick Berg.[108] In a 2006 interview with the Washington Post, Nasrallah condemned violence against American civilians.[106]

Although Hezbollah has denounced certain attacks on Western civilians, some people accuse the organization of the bombing of an Argentine synagogue in 1994. Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, Marcelo Martinez Burgos, and their "staff of some 45 people"[109] alleged that Hezbollah and their contacts in Iran were responsible for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina, in which "[e]ighty-five people were killed and more than 200 others injured."[110] In June 2002, shortly after the Israeli government launched Operation Defensive Shield, Nasrallah gave a speech in which he defended and praised suicide bombings of Israeli targets by members of Palestinian groups for "creating a deterrence and equalizing fear." Nasrallah stated that "in occupied Palestine, there is no difference between a soldier and a civilian, for they are all invaders, occupiers and usurpers of the land."[8]

In addition, Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar airs programming designed to inspire suicide attacks in Gaza, the West Bank and Iraq.[60][111][112]


  Attacks on Hezbollah
Hezbollah has also been the target of bomb attacks and kidnappings. These include:

In the 1985 Beirut car bombing, Hezbollah leader Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah was targeted, but the assassination attempt failed. It has been alleged [113] that the CIA was responsible for this attack.
On July 28, 1989, Israeli commandos kidnapped Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid, the leader of Hezbollah.[114] This action led to the adoptation of UN Security Council resolution 638, which condemned all hostage takings by all sides.
In 1992, Israeli helicopters attacked a motorcade in southern Lebanon, killing the Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Musawi, his wife, son, and four others


Hezbollah operates a satellite television station, Al-Manar TV ("the Lighthouse"), a radio station al-Nour ("the Light"), and a monthly magazine Kabdat Alla ("The Fist of God"). Al-Manar broadcasts from Beirut, Lebanon.[115] The station was launched by Hezbollah in 1991[116] with the help of Iranian funds.[117] Al-Manar, self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), is a key player in what Hezbollah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy"[118][117] and an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to spread its message to the entire Arab world.[117]

Al-Manar's transmission in France is prohibited due to promotion of Holocaust denial, a criminal offense in France.[119][120][121] The United States lists Al-Manar television network as a terrorist organization.

Materials aimed at instilling principles of nationalism and Islam in children are an aspect of Hezbollah's media operations.[123] The Hezbollah Central Internet Bureau released a video game in 2003 entitled Special Force, in which players conduct war on Israeli invaders, wherein the winner becomes a national hero on Earth and a martyr in Heaven

Social services
Hezbollah also organizes extensive social development programs, running hospitals, news services, and educational facilities. Social services have a central role in the party's programs. Most experts believe that Hezbollah's social and health programs are worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.[17]

Some of its established institutions are: Emdad committee for Islamic Charity,[125] Hezbollah Central Press Office, Al Jarha Association,[126] and Jihad Al Binaa Developmental Association.[127] Jihad Al Binna's Reconstruction Campaign is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon.[128] Hezbollah has set up a Martyr's Institute (Al-Shahid Social Association), which guarantees to provide living and education expenses for the families of fighters who die in battle.[129] In March 2006, an IRIN news report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted: "Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings - it also boasts an extensive social development program. Hezbollah currently operates at least four hospitals, twelve clinics, twelve schools and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance program. Medical care is also cheaper than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members".[17]

According to CNN: "Hezbollah did everything that a government should do, from collecting the garbage to running hospitals and repairing schools."[130] In July 2006, during the war with Israel, when there was no running water in Beirut, Hezbollah was arranging supplies around the city. "People here [in South Beirut] see Hezbollah as a political movement and a social service provider as much as it is a militia, in this traditionally poor and dispossessed Shiite community."[130] Also, after the war it competed with the Lebanese government to reconstruct destroyed areas. According to analysts like American University Professor Judith Swain Harik, Jihad al-Binaa has won the initial battle of hearts and minds, in large part because they are the most experienced in Lebanon in the field of reconstruction.[131]


  Funding
Main article: Funding of Hezbollah
Hezbollah's financial support is a matter of controversy. Critics argue that it is, or has been, massively supported with tens of millions of dollars annually from the Islamic Republic of Iran.[60] Hezbollah maintains that the main source of its income comes from donations by Muslims.[132]

Lebanese Shi’ites often make zakat contributions directly after prayers and an additional donation in a Hezbollah donation box. Hezbollah also receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from the Islamic Republic of Iran.[17][129][18] The US estimates that Iran has been giving Hezbollah about US$60-100 million per year in financial assistance.[133]

Hezbollah has relied extensively on funding from the Shi'ite Lebanese Diaspora in West Africa, the United States and, most importantly, the Triple Frontier, or tri-border area, along the junction of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.[134] U.S. law enforcement officials charged that smugglers of illegal cigarettes in the United States were funneling millions of dollars to Hezbollah.[135]


  Foreign relations
Main article: Hezbollah foreign relations
Hezbollah has close relations with Iran.[136] It also has ties with the Alawite leadership in Syria, specifically with President Hafez al-Assad (until his death in 2000) and his son and successor Bashar al-Assad.[137] Although Hezbollah and Hamas are not organizationally linked, Hezbollah provides military training as well as financial and moral support to the Sunni Palestinian group.[138] Furthermore, Hezbollah is a strong supporter of the ongoing Al-Aqsa Intifada.[8] Whether there has been cooperation or any relationship between Hezbollah and al-Qaeda has been questioned.[139] Hezbollah's leaders deny links to al-Qaeda, present or past.[139][140] Also, some al-Qaeda leaders, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi[141] and Wahhabi clerics, consider Hezbollah to be apostate.[142][143] But United States intelligence officials speculate that there has been contact between Hezbollah and low-level al-Qaeda figures who fled Afghanistan for Lebanon

Public opinion
In much of the Arab world, Hezbollah is seen as a legitimate resistance organization that has defended its land against an Israeli occupying force and has consistently stood up to the Israeli army.[8]

According to a poll released by the "Beirut Center for Research and Information" on 26 July during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, 87 percent of Lebanese support Hezbollah's fight with Israel, a rise of 29 percentage points from a similar poll conducted in February. More striking, however, was the level of support for Hezbollah's resistance from non-Shiite communities. Eighty percent of Christians polled supported Hezbollah, along with 80 percent of Druze and 89 percent of Sunnis.[146][147]

In a poll of Lebanese adults taken in 2004, 6% of respondents gave unqualified support to the statement "Hezbollah should be disarmed". 41% reported unqualified disagreement.[148]

A poll of Gaza Strip and West Bank residents indicated that 79.6% had "a very good view" of Hezbollah.[149]

Polls of Jordanian adults in December 2005 and June 2006 showed that 63.9% and 63.3%, respectively, considered Hezbollah to be a legitimate resistance organization.[150] In the December 2005 poll, only 6% of Jordanian adults considered Hezbollah to be terrorist.[151]

A July 2006 USA Today/Gallup poll found that 83% of the 1,005 Americans polled blamed Hezbollah, at least in part, for the 2006 Lebanon War, compared to 66% who blamed Israel to some degree. Additionally, 76% disapproved of the military action Hezbollah took in Israel, compared to 38% who disapproved of Israel's military action in Lebanon.[152] A poll in August 2006 by ABC News and the Washington Post found that 68% of the 1,002 Americans polled blamed Hezbollah, at least in part, for the civilian casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon War, compared to 31% who blamed Israel to some degree.[152] Another August 2006 poll by CNN showed that 69% of the 1,047 Americans polled believed that Hezbollah is unfriendly towards, or an enemy of, the United States.[152]


  Designation as a terrorist organization
Governments disagree on Hezbollah’s status as a legitimate political entity, a terrorist group, or both. Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is highly regarded as a legitimate resistance movement.[3]

The countries below have officially listed Hezbollah in at least some part as a terrorist organization.

Australia The Hezbollah External Security Organization [153]
Canada The entire organization Hezbollah [154]
Israel The entire organization Hezbollah [155][156]
Netherlands The entire organization Hezbollah [157][158]
United Kingdom The Hezbollah External Security Organization [159]
United States The entire organization Hezbollah [160]

In 2002, US state department official Christopher Ross was cited as explaining that while "the Hezbollah party and some of its members carried out terrorist acts in the past", "the acts that it carried out against the Israeli forces in South Lebanon were not terrorist acts."[161]

The European Union does not list Hezbollah, or any group within it, as a "terrorist" organization,[162][163] but on March 10, 2005, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution recognizing "clear evidence" of "terrorist activities by Hezbollah"[164] and urging the EU Council to brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization and EU governments to place Hezbollah on their terrorist blacklists, as the bloc did with the Palestinian Hamas group in 2003.[164] The Council, however, has been reluctant to do this, because France, Spain, and Britain fear that such a move would further damage the prospects for Middle East peace talks.[164] The EU Council designates Imad Mugniyah as a terrorist, claiming he is Hezbollah's "Senior Intelligence Officer".[162][165] In the midst of the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Russia’s government declined to include Hezbollah in a newly-released list of terrorist organizations, with Yuri Sapunov, the head of anti-terrorism for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, saying that they list only organizations which represent "the greatest threat to the security of our country".[166] Prior to the release of the list, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov called "on Hezbollah to stop resorting to any terrorist methods, including attacking neighboring states."[167]

The Quartet’s fourth member, the United Nations, does not maintain such a list.[168]

Some other countries have criticized Hezbollah, citing terrorist activities, without maintaining such a list. Argentine prosecutors hold Hezbollah and their financial supporters in Iran responsible for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center, described by the Associated Press as "the worst terrorist attack on Argentine soil", in which "[e]ighty-five people were killed and more than 200 others injured."[110] On 24 February 2000, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin condemned attacks by Hezbollah fighters on Israeli forces in south Lebanon, saying they are "terrorism" and not acts of resistance. "France condemns Hezbollah's attacks, and all types of terrorist attacks which may be carried out against soldiers, or possibly Israel's civilian population."[169] On August 29, 2006, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema differentiated the wings of Hezbollah: "Apart from their well-known terrorist activities, they also have political standing and are socially engaged."[170][171] Germany does not maintain an independent national list of terrorist organizations, choosing instead to adopt the common EU list; however, German officials indicate that they would likely support a designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.