The latter feared being marginalized in the multi-ethnic state. They found help from the Iranian revolutionaries, who wanted to spread their ideas. The Shiites of both countries have been allies for centuries. The fear of marginalization and the Iranian ideology have together provided ideal conditions for personnel and programmatic cooperation between Hezbollah and Iran, writes Funke on the website of the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
When Israel occupied the south of the country during the Lebanese civil war in 1982, Hezbollah was founded at the instigation of Iran. The country provided weapons, money and training to the terrorist group’s fighters. Less than a year later, Hezbollah suicide bombers attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the U.S. Navy headquarters at the airport; A total of 241 Americans died.
Hezbollah continued its fight against Israel and established itself as a political party in the government. In 2000, the Israeli army withdrew, but this was only partly due to Hezbollah; The occupation has generally become a burden for Israel, writes Middle East expert Peter Philipp for the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Hezbollah nevertheless viewed this as a major political success. When Israel carried out massive retaliatory strikes following an attack by Hezbollah in the 2006 Lebanon War, the terrorist organization was able to gain further sympathy among the Lebanese population.
Hezbollah also intervened in the Syrian civil war, which has been ongoing since 2011. In 2013, leader Nasrallah announced that his terrorist group supported Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad: “Syria has real friends in the region and the world who will not allow Syria to fall into the hands of America, Israel (…)” he told Hezbollah television channel al-Manar.
Since October 8, 2023, there have been repeated fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the border areas of both countries. A day earlier, the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel and killed more than 1,200 civilians. Since then, Israel has been at war with Hamas and is attacking the Gaza Strip.
