This week, clashes between Israel and Hezbollah escalated, resulting in Lebanon’s deadliest day in many years and intensifying a conflict that has been simmering for over a year.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah launched a rocket towards Tel Aviv amidst ongoing Israeli airstrikes that claimed over 500 lives on Monday, pushing both parties closer to a broader conflict. This increase in activity comes after Hamas’s assault on October 7, which has prompted Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, to intensify its rocket attacks on Israel.

If a full-scale war emerges between Hezbollah and Israel, it could have catastrophic results. Unlike Hamas, Hezbollah is better equipped militarily and enjoys the support of Iran. Any direct involvement from Iran could escalate the situation into a much wider and more destructive regional conflict.

Overview of Hezbollah

Hezbollah is recognized as a militant Shia Muslim group and a political party in Lebanon, which has been classified as a terrorist organization.

Formed in the early 1980s during Lebanon’s civil conflict, Hezbollah arose in response to two Israeli invasions of Lebanese territory, as reported by the Council on Foreign Relations. Its 1985 manifesto outlined the group’s intention to remove Western forces from the Middle East and eject Israeli troops from Lebanon.

Hezbollah functions as a “state within a state,” providing its own political, military, and social services independently of the Lebanese government in the regions it dominates. Since the early 1990s, it has participated in Lebanese politics, holding seats in parliament, though the group and its allies lost control in the elections of 2022, as noted by the Wilson Center.

Hezbollah’s Ongoing Rocket Attacks since October 7

Hezbollah, allied with Hamas, has pledged to stand by the group in its struggle against Israel.

Following Hamas’s unexpected attack on October 7 that resulted in 1,200 casualties, Hezbollah commenced launching near-daily rockets into Israeli territory.

The organization claims that these rocket attacks are retaliatory actions against Israel’s continuous blockade of Gaza, which has devastatingly affected the area and led to over 41,000 Palestinian deaths, as reported by Gaza’s health ministry.

While Israel has intercepted many of these strikes, in July, 12 children and teens tragically lost their lives on a soccer field in the Golan Heights due to an attack attributed to Hezbollah, which the group denied orchestrating.

Hezbollah’s Link to Iran

Since its inception, Iran has been a financial supporter of Hezbollah, integrating it into its “Axis of Resistance,” a network of allied proxy forces in the region.

The U.S. State Department designates Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism and has imposed sanctions on Hezbollah’s financial channels.

To counter the group’s unlawful activities and its capacity to fund terrorism globally, Congress instated sanctions in 2015 on foreign institutions that utilize U.S. banking systems to support Hezbollah’s operations. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have enforced further sanctions focused on blocking Iranian and Hezbollah finances.

The Massive Explosions in Lebanon: What Happened?

The recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah was ignited by the simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon over two days last week. This incident resulted in 37 fatalities and numerous serious injuries, including devastating limb losses.

Reports indicated that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency embedded small explosives in these devices, which Hezbollah utilized due to their difficulty in tracking. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement in this incident.

Assessing Hezbollah’s Military Strength

Hezbollah is estimated to have roughly 40,000 fighters within its ranks, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.

The organization has significantly augmented its arsenal of rockets and drones since the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and presently possesses over 150,000 such weapons, as reported by the Congressional Research Service.

The 2006 conflict was sparked by Hezbollah militants crossing into Israel, killing three Israeli soldiers and taking two hostage. What followed was a month-long war that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,100 Lebanese individuals, primarily civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.

A significant portion of Beirut was devastated, as reported. Nearly a million individuals fled Lebanon, and in Israel, around 300,000 people evacuated after Hezbollah’s rocket fire destroyed about 2,000 homes. More than 120 Israeli soldiers lost their lives during this conflict.

Who classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist organization?

The Counterterrorism Center states that the U.S., Israel, and over 60 other countries and organizations have categorized Hezbollah as a terrorist entity.

According to U.S. officials, Hezbollah has been implicated in numerous terrorist incidents, including the bombings of the U.S. embassy and U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983, which together claimed over 300 lives.

Israel’s military reported that Ibrahim Aqil, a Hezbollah commander sought for his involvement in these bombings, was killed in an Israeli airstrike last week.

The organization is also suspected of being behind the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985, which resulted in the death of a U.S. Navy diver.