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A series of attacks on wireless devices has drawn attention to the Iran-backed militia. Here’s what to know about the militant group.
- Sept. 18, 2024Updated 2:13 p.m. ET
A series of attacks apparently targeting the wireless devices of Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon has drawn attention to the Iran-backed militia — which the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization decades ago.
Here’s what to know about the militant group.
What is Hezbollah?
Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim group formed in the 1980s from the chaos of Lebanon’s long civil war to fight the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended in 2000. The name Hezbollah is Arabic for “Party of God.”
In recent decades, Hezbollah has grown into Lebanon’s most effective political party and fighting force, and has expanded its operations into Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East. In Lebanon, it has deep roots in parts of society and an extensive apparatus to support its mission, including offices dedicated to social services, communications and internal security.
Hezbollah and its political allies lost their majority in Lebanon’s Parliament in elections in 2022, but the group remains a formidable political force that exercises de facto control over parts of the country, including southern Lebanon, which borders northern Israel.
Why are Hezbollah and Israel fighting now?
Hezbollah’s military wing has been targeting northern Israel for nearly a year in solidarity with Hamas and its war with Israel in Gaza.
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire almost daily since Oct. 7, when Hamas led attacks in Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people, and world leaders fear the fighting could escalate into a wider regional war.
