Hezbollah (Lebanon)

Hezbollah
Flag of Hezbollah
Secretary-General	Hassan Nasrallah
Founded	1985 (official)
Ideology	Islamic nationalism Anti-Zionism Anti-"Western imperialism" Shia Jihadism Khomeinism Anti-West Anti-Semitism
Colours	Yellow Green
Parliament of Lebanon	12 / 128
Cabinet of Lebanon	2 / 30
Website
Official website
Politics of Lebanon Political parties Elections

Lebanese Resistance Brigades Saraya al-Moukawama al-Lubnaniyya
سرايا المقاومة اللبنانية Participant in South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) and Battle of Sidon (2013)

Active	1998–2000 2009–present
Leaders	Mohammed Aknan (Beirut) Mohammad Saleh (Sidon) †
Area of operations	Southern Lebanon, mainly Sidon
Part of	Hezbollah
Allies	March 8 Alliance
Opponents	Israel SLA Al-Nusra Front Fatah al-Islam Jund al-Sham Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Battles and wars	Battle of Sidon (2013)

Hezbollah (pronounced /ˌhɛzbəˈlɑː/;Arabic: حزب الله‎‎ Ḥizbu 'llāh, literally "Party of Allah" or "Party of God")—also transliterated Hizbullah, Hizballah, etc.—is a Shi'a Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese parliament. After the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the group has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.

After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Israel occupied a strip of south Lebanon, which was controlled by the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a militia supported by Israel. Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran primarily to harass the Israeli occupation. Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with permission from the Syrian government, which was in occupation of Lebanon at the time. Hezbollah waged a guerilla campaign in South Lebanon and as a result, Israel withdrew from Lebanon on May 24, 2000, and SLA collapsed and surrendered. Backed by Iran, Hezbollah fighters fought against Serbian forces during the Bosnian War.