Hezbollah military activities

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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 terrorist groups, some of which may be little more than fronts for Hezbollah itself. These groups include the Organization of the Oppressed, the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammad.[1][2][3]

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[edit] Armed strength

Hezbollah recruits using the Roman salute. Beirut, November 11, 2001.
Hezbollah recruits using the Roman salute. Beirut, November 11, 2001.
See also: Hezbollah rocket force

The strength of Hezbollah's forces are disputed, and has been variously estimated as "several thousand"[4] and several thousand supporters and a few hundred devotee operatives.[5] The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates Hezbollah forces to 600-1000 active fighters (with 3,000 - 5,000 available and 10,000 reservists), 10,000 - 15,000 rockets of the Katyusha, Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 type. They also estimate a stockpile of 30 missiles of the Zelzal type.[6] As Haaretz reports Hezbollah is not a small guerrilla group. It is a trained, skilled, well-organized, highly motivated infantry that is equipped with the cream of the crop of modern weaponry from the arsenals of Syria, Iran, Russia, and the People's Republic of China, and which is very familiar with the territory on which it is fighting.[7]

Hezbollah military is considered to be the most capable non-state armed group in the Middle East. According to Jane's Information Group:

"Islamic Resistance guerrillas are reckoned to be amongst the most dedicated, motivated and highly trained of their kind. Any Hezbollah member receiving military training is likely to do so at the hands of IRGC [the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps], either in southern Lebanon or in camps in Iran. The increasingly sophisticated methods used by IRGC members indicates that they are trained using Israeli and US military manuals; the emphasis of this training is on the tactics of attrition, mobility, intelligence gathering and night-time manoeuvres."[8]

. According to Kevin Simpson from Socialism Today

"the reason for their courage and effectiveness is that all their fighters are fighting to save their jobs, lands and houses and those of future generations."[9]

Hezbollah's strength was enhanced by the dispatching of one thousand[10] to fifteen hundred[11] members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the financial backing of Iran. It became the main politico-military force among the Shi'a community in Lebanon and the main arm of what became known later as the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.[10]

It is claimed that Hezbollah's militia is supported by Iran and Syria.

[edit] Intelligence capabilities

According to Israeli and American sources, Hezbollah has three units charged with intelligence operations.

One unit is responsible for intelligence activities against Israel, primarily by recruiting and running agents in order to gather information about Israeli military bases and other potential targets. It is claimed that this unit also gathers information on behalf of Iran,[citation needed] and is also known to conduct SIGINT operations against IDF communications.[12]


According to Michael Eisenstadt, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hezbollah also has a unit called Unit 1800 which aids Palestinians engaged in their operations, by providing funding, direction, weapons, and bomb-building instructions.[13]

[edit] Stance on what is a legitimate military target

Hezbollah has not been directly involved in a suicide bombing since 1999 and has publicly denounced some of these attacks. 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 Pentagon, neither favoring nor opposing the act.[14][15] Hezbollah also denounced the Armed Islamic Group massacres in Algeria, Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya attacks on tourists in Egypt,[16] and the murder of Nick Berg.[17] Nasrallah, in a 2006 interview with the Washington Post, condemned violence against American civilians: “[I]f there are American tourists, or intellectuals, doctors, or professors who have nothing to do with this war, they are innocent, even though they are Americans, and it is forbidden. It is not acceptable to harm them.”[14]

Although Hezbollah has denounced certain attacks on Western civilians, some argue that it makes an exception when the victims are Jews.[verification needed] Their most common civilian targets are Israelis, however they have been claimed[verification needed] to target Jews and Jewish institutions abroad as well. Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman alleged 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."[18] In June 2002, shortly after the Israeli government launched Operation Defensive Shield, which culminated in the Battle of Jenin, in which the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) committed a massacre against the innocent Palestinian population, Nasrallah gave a speech in which he defended and praised suicide bombings of Israeli civilians; 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;"[19] making no distinction between killing soldiers or civilians.

Journalist Paul Martin, writing in The Washington Times, quoted Hassan Nasrallah as saying, "I encourage Palestinians to take suicide bombings worldwide. Don't be shy about it." However the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that it was unable to find any record of the speech and suggested that it had been fabricated.[20]

In addition, Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar airs programming designed to inspire suicide attacks in Gaza, the West Bank and Iraq.[21][22][23]

[edit] Disarmament

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 called for the disarmament of militia with the Taif agreement at the end of the Lebanese civil war. Hezbollah's denounced and protested it. Its refusal to disarm has after the more recent conflict with Israel become controversial. Some still consider it a violation of the resolution and agreement and others now consider it a necessary and justified element of resistance. The official position of the Lebanese government is unclear, with conflicting statements given. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera recently quoted Prime Minister Saniora was saying that, "Hezbollah has created, a 'state within a state,' adding: 'The entire world must help us disarm Hezbollah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire.'. According to a Forbes article, Saniora later denied these remarks, saying he "told the paper that 'the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons. The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Chebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms'.[24] Hezbollah denounced.[25] The former prime minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, stated that "in our terminology Hezbollah is not a militia, it is a resistance and we believe there is a difference between resistance and militia".[26] Butros Harb, a Lebanese lawmaker, recently spoke against Hezbollah's failure to disarm saying, "We can't have an illegal army at the heart of our state, all weapons must be held by the Lebanese government".[27]

On August 5, 2006 the Prime Minister of Lebanon said that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Shebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons. The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms".[28]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Department of State Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations
  2. ^
  3. ^
  4. ^ Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations. U.S Department of State (1999-10-08). Retrieved on July 25, 2006.
  5. ^ Country Reports on Terrorism, 2004. U.S Department of State (2005-04-01). Retrieved on July 25, 2006.
  6. ^ The International Institute For Strategic Studies (2006-07-21). Agence France Presse - Lebanese army faces no-win situation. Retrieved on August 1, 2006.
  7. ^ Singh, Gajendra (2006-07-31). Rice's New ME Birth pangs Deliver Daughter of the Mountain. Al-Jazeerah.info. Retrieved on August 7, 2006.
  8. ^ Group Profile: Hezbollah. Jane's Information Group. 26 July 2006. Accessed 8 September 2006
  9. ^ US-Israeli 'new Middle East' plan derailed Socialism Today
  10. ^ a b Nizar Abdel-Kader. Iraq and the Future of Gulf Security Cooperation: A Lebanese perspective. Lebanese Army Magazine. Retrieved on July 25, 2006.
  11. ^ Third World Quarterly, Vol 14, No 2, 1993, reprinted at Al Mashriq Lebanon's Hizbullah: from Islamic revolution to parliamentary accommodation Accessed 2006-07-26
  12. ^ Melman, Yossi (2006-07-21). The Prying Game. Haaretz.
  13. ^ Eisenstadt, Michael (2006-07-17). Israeli Offensive Widens. Washington Post. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.
  14. ^ a b Wright, Robin. "Inside the Mind of Hezbollah", The Washington Post. Retrieved on August 1, 2006.
  15. ^ Adam Shatz, New York Review of Books, April 29, 2004 In Search of Hezbollah Accessed August 15, 2006
  16. ^ Hezbollah's condemnation of murder of civilians in Egypt and Algeria is described in Saad-Ghorayeb, p. 101.
  17. ^ Usher, Sebastian. "Muted Arab reaction to Berg beheading", BBC News. Retrieved on July 27, 2006.
  18. ^ "Argentine prosecutors: Arrest former Iranian president." CNN.com, 2006-10-26, 'Prosecutor Alberto Nisman told a news conference that the decision to attack the center "was undertaken in 1993 by the highest authorities of the then-government of Iran." He said the actual attack was entrusted to the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah.'
  19. ^ Adam Shatz, New York Review of Books, April 29, 2004 In Search of Hezbollah Accessed August 15, 2006
  20. ^ "Hezbollah says Canada was duped into calling them terrorists", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, December 12, 2002. Retrieved on September 3, 2006.
  21. ^ "IN THE PARTY OF GOD: Are terrorists in Lebanon preparing for a larger war?", The New Yorker, October 14, 2002. Retrieved on August 21, 2006.
  22. ^ ""Terrorist Television: Hezbollah has a worldwide reach"", National Review Online, December 22, 2004. Retrieved on August 22, 2006.
  23. ^ "Al-Manar and the War in Iraq", Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, April 2003. Retrieved on August 24, 2006.
  24. ^ [1]
  25. ^ Seelye, Kate (2005-04-01). Lebanon's religious mix. PBS Frontline World. Retrieved on July 28, 2006.
  26. ^ "Hezbollah disarmament unclear", CNN, May 7, 2005. Retrieved on August 5, 2006.
  27. ^ AP and JP Post staff (22 September 2006). Nasrallah hails 'victory' in first appearance since July. Jerusalem Post.
  28. ^ "Israelis, Hezbollah Clash Again in Lebanon", AP, July 20, 2006. Retrieved on August 7, 2006.

[edit] External links

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