Khalid Bazzi
| Khalid Ahmad Bazzi | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | al-Hajj Qasim |
| Born | March 15, 1969 Bint Jbeil, Lebanon |
| Died | July 29, 2006 (aged 37) Bint Jbeil |
| Buried at | Bint Jbeil |
| Allegiance | Hizbullah |
| Service/branch | The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon |
| Years of service | 20 years |
| Rank | Commander (Arabic: قائد , qa’id) |
| Commands held | Chief of Operations, Bint Jbeil sector |
| Battles/wars | South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000) |
Khalid Ahmad Bazzi (Arabic: خالد أحمد بزي) was a commander in Hizbullah's military wing, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.
He was born in the town of Bint Jbeil in South Lebanon. He joined the resistance in his teens and participated in many operations against the Israeli occupation. During the Second Lebanon War he was sector commander in the Bint Jbeil area, comprising the towns of Bint Jbeil and Aynata and the villages of Maroun ar-Ras and Aytaroun. He personally participated in both the battles of Maroun ar-Ras and Bint Jbeil. He was one of the most senior Hizbullah leader to die in the war.
Khalid Bazzi was thirteen years old in 1982, when his hometown was occupied by Israel for the third time in his lifetime. Bint Jbeil was occupied in Operation Cauldron 4 Extended in 1972 and Operation Litani in 1978. This time the Israelis would stay 18 years. The Shiite population of Southern Lebanon had suffered hard during the years of fighting between the Palestinians and Israelis. Many residents of South Lebanon felt an initial relief after the Palestinian guerrillas where pushed back from the area. This feeling soon turned sour when it became clear that the Israelis were there to stay. An armed resistance developed, this time among the Shiite population of South Lebanon that constituted the majority population in the area.
Bazzi thus grew up under the Israeli occupation. Some of his relatives had previously been active in the Palestinian Fatah movement. Bazzi and his friends soon became sympathetic or even active in the emerging Islamic Resistance.
In 1985 Israel withdrew from most of south Lebanon but continued to control a security zone, comprising about 10 per cent of the area of Lebanon. The IDF launched purges in the Shiite villages remaining under occupation, arresting people suspected of being involved in the resistance. Several of Bazzi’s friends were arrested and taken to the notorious al-Khiyyam prison camp. Bazzi himself fled his home one night and slipped out of the security zone. He went to Beirut and started studying at the university. He soon dropped out of school and became a full-time activist in the resistance.
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