Updated September 20, 2024

Lebanese Hezbollah
Hezbollah (“Party of God,” also spelled Hizballah) is an and 50,000 or more. That figure includes the Radwan
Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militia and U.S.-designated Force, an elite unit trained to conduct special operations.
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Hezbollah is an Hezbollah’s arsenal of rockets, missiles, and drones is
Iranian partner force, helping Tehran project power across estimated at over 150,000.
the region, train allied militias (reportedly including Objectives and Operations
Hamas), and threaten U.S. interests and allies across the For nearly two decades, Hezbollah’s stated objective was to
region. Formed in the wake of the 1982 Israeli invasion of drive IDF forces from southern Lebanon. Since the Israeli
Lebanon, the group has conducted numerous attacks against withdrawal in 2000, Hezbollah has used Israel’s remaining
Israeli and Western targets. In addition to authorizing presence in the Sheb’a Farms and other disputed areas in
sanctions against Hezbollah, Congress has sought to bolster the Lebanon-Syria-Israel tri-border region (see Figure 1) to
Lebanese state institutions to counter its influence. Clashes justify ongoing violence against Israel—and its persistence
between Hezbollah and Israel since the October 2023 as an armed militia outside the structure or purview of the
Hamas-led attack on Israel have displaced tens of thousands Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).
on both sides of the border and escalated since July 2024,
increasing the prospect of a broader military confrontation. Hezbollah is aligned with the ideology of Iran’s
government and bolsters Iranian strategic objectives. The
Figure 1. Lebanon State Department’s 2022 Country Reports on Terrorism
states that Iran provides Hezbollah with “most of its
funding, training, weapons, and explosives, as well as
political, diplomatic, monetary, and organizational aid.”
The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence
Community (ATA) states that, “Hizballah seeks to limit
U.S. influence in Lebanon and the broader Middle East,”
goals it shares with the Iranian government.
Hezbollah also operates a global criminal-financial
network, with reported hubs in Africa and Latin America. A
2022 Europol report stated, “The network of collaborators
built by Hezbollah in the EU is suspected of managing the
transportation and distribution of illegal drugs into the EU,
dealing with firearms trafficking and running professional
money laundering operations.” Other reports highlight
Hezbollah’s role in the trafficking of amphetamine-type
stimulants, marketed as captagon, along the Syrian border.
Hezbollah in Lebanese Politics
Hezbollah has participated in Lebanese elections since 1992
and draws popular support from its vast network of schools,
clinics, youth programs, and other social services. The
group entered the cabinet for the first time in 2005 and has
held one to three seats in each Lebanese government
formed since then. Hezbollah has at times sought to block
cabinet decisions, twice prompting the collapse of the
Source: Created by CRS. UNIFIL = United Nations Interim Force in government by withdrawing from the cabinet alongside its
Lebanon; UNDOF = United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. political allies. The group is part of the March 8 political
coalition, which also includes the Free Patriotic Movement
Leadership, Structure, and Size (Christian) and the Amal Movement (Shia). Hezbollah
Hezbollah’s leader is Hassan Nasrallah, who has served as holds two seats in Lebanon’s caretaker government.
Secretary-General since the assassination of his predecessor Hezbollah did not gain additional parliamentary seats in the
by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1992. Some 2018 or 2022 legislative elections (it continues to hold 13
countries and the European Union (EU) separate out of 128). However, since the expiration of President
Hezbollah’s military and political wings—designating the Michel Aoun’s term in October 2022, Hezbollah and its
former for sanctions while maintaining dialogue with the March 8 allies have obstructed efforts by parliament to elect
latter. U.S. officials have described this division as a “false a president by preventing the formation of a quorum and by
distinction,” and one not made by Hezbollah itself. Reports casting blank ballots in parliamentary electoral sessions.
estimate that Hezbollah’s fighters number between 40,000

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 Lebanese Hezbollah

Areas of Military Operation October 2023 as part of its stated support for Hamas,
Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and primarily operates in the prompting Israeli retaliatory strikes and raising fears of a
Middle East, though it has conducted attacks elsewhere. broader escalation. Strikes and counterstrikes escalated in
Lebanon. According to U.S. government assessments, summer 2024, including a rocket attack attributed to
Hezbollah controls access to parts of Lebanon and operates Hezbollah that killed 12 young people in the Golan Heights
inside the country with relative impunity. The group was in July, Israel’s killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in
implicated in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese response, and preemptive Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon in
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a car bombing in downtown August that blunted the effect of a major Hezbollah attack
Beirut that also killed 21 others. that was in retaliation for the commander’s death. More
than 500 Lebanese and over 30 Israelis have reportedly
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) directs the been killed in various attacks. Israeli officials have
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to threatened wider military action in Lebanon if Hezbollah’s
assist the Lebanese government in establishing an area “free fighters are not withdrawn north of the Litani. U.S. officials
of” non-state armed personnel between the Blue Line have sought to broker an arrangement that keeps Hezbollah
(Lebanon’s de facto border with Israel) and the Litani back from the border in a way that mitigates the threat of an
River. Hezbollah’s continued operation in this area is a October 7-style attack and permits the roughly 60,000
major factor in ongoing clashes with Israel. evacuated Israelis to return to their homes in Israel’s north.
Syria. Hezbollah has a long-standing relationship with the On September 16, 2024, as Israel continued to shift forces
government of Syrian President Bashar al Asad, which to the north, the Israeli Defense Minister said “the only way
facilitates the transit of weapons through Syria from Iran to left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to
Hezbollah. Hezbollah has played a key role in assisting pro- their homes, will be via military action.” On September 17-
Asad forces during Syria’s civil war. 18, hundreds of pagers and other devices apparently
Yemen. Hezbollah also provides weapons and training to ordered by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon, killing
Houthi militants in Yemen, and Hezbollah commanders dozens and injuring thousands in an unprecedented attack
have reportedly assisted the Houthi campaign against attributed to but not claimed by Israel. Some reports
international shipping in the Red Sea. indicate that Israel may have set off the devices due to
concerns that Hezbollah would otherwise discover the plot.
Attacks and Threats to U.S. Interests Some current and former Israeli officials reportedly argue
Hezbollah has been linked to a series of terrorist attacks, that Israel seeks to raise the cost to Hezbollah of continuing
including one in 2012 against Israeli tourists in Bulgaria
to fight in the absence of a Gaza cease-fire. Observers
and two in Argentina during the 1990s. Hezbollah attacks speculate on whether these incidents may be a prelude to an
against U.S. personnel and facilities abroad include the Israeli offensive into Lebanon. It is unclear how the
truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy and Multinational
September device attacks might have impacted Hezbollah’s
Force barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the kidnapping of the military capabilities, internal cohesion, or strategic calculus;
Central Intelligence Agency chief of station in Beirut, who Nasrallah vowed to continue attacks “until the aggression
later died while held captive. Hezbollah leaders reportedly
on Gaza stops.” On September 20, an Israeli strike in Beirut
armed and trained Shia militias that carried out attacks on reportedly targeted senior Radwan Force personnel.
U.S. forces during their 2003-2011 deployment to Iraq.
Legislation and Issues for Congress
The 2024 ATA states that Hezbollah “maintains the Congress has passed several measures authorizing
capability to target U.S. persons and interests in the region, secondary sanctions against persons and entities that
worldwide, and, to a lesser extent, in the United States.” In facilitate financial transactions for Hezbollah, including the
2023 congressional testimony, FBI Director Christopher Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015
Wray stated, “FBI arrests in recent years also indicate that (P.L. 114-102), as amended by the Hizballah International
Hizballah has tried to seed operatives, establish Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-
infrastructure, and engage in spying here domestically— 272). In the 118th Congress, the House agreed to a
raising our concern that they may be contingency planning resolution urging the EU to designate Hezbollah “in its
for future operations in the United States.” entirety” as a terrorist organization (H.Res. 599).
The Department of the Treasury reported in 2024 that State Department officials have described the LAF as “an
Hezbollah “members and sympathizers have long been institutional counterweight to Hezbollah,” an assessment
involved in an array of large-scale criminal schemes, some observers dispute. Successive appropriations acts
including sophisticated money laundering, smuggling, and have prohibited the availability of funds for the LAF if it is
trafficking networks that have involved the U.S. financial “controlled” by a designated terrorist organization. In
system.” U.S. law criminalizes support for Hezbollah and exercising oversight of U.S. security assistance to the LAF,
authorizes a number of secondary sanctions against non- some Members have raised questions about the possible
U.S. nationals who provide it with material support or diversion of U.S. funds to Hezbollah.
facilitate financial transactions on its behalf. A 2022 study
found that 19 individuals were charged in federal courts Clayton Thomas, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
with providing material support to Hezbollah between 1997 Jim Zanotti, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
and 2020, with dozens more Hezbollah-affiliated
individuals charged with non-terrorism-related offenses. IF10703
Ongoing Conflict with Israel
Hezbollah, which fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006,
has fired thousands of projectiles into northern Israel since
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 Lebanese Hezbollah

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