https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated January 11, 2023
Lebanese Hezbollah
Hezbollah (“Party of God” also spelled Hizballah) is an
Iran-backed Lebanese Shi’a militia and U.S.-designated
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Formed in the wake
of the 1982 Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, the group
has conducted numerous attacks against Israeli and Western
targets. Hezbollah serves as an Iranian partner force,
enabling Tehran to project power across the region and
threaten U.S. interests and allies across the Middle East.
Figure 1. Lebanon
Source: Created by CRS. UNIFIL = United Nations Interim Force in
Lebanon; UNDOF = United Nations Disengagement Observer Force.
Leadership, Structure, and Size
Hassan Nasrallah has served as Secretary-General of
Hezbollah since the assassination of his predecessor by the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1992. According to the U.S.
government, the External Security Organization (ESO), the
military arm of Hezbollah responsible for the planning,
coordination, and execution of terrorist attacks, is headed
by Talal Hamiyah. The ESO is also known as the Islamic
Jihad Organization (IJO) or Unit 910. Some countries and
the European Union separate Hezbollah’s military and
political wings—designating the former for sanctions while
maintaining dialogue with the latter. U.S. officials describe
this division as a “false distinction,” and one not made by
Hezbollah itself. Definitive numbers on Hezbollah’s total
size are not publicly available; the International Institute for
Strategic Studies’ 2022 Military Balance estimates that the
group may have “up to 20,000 active personnel.”
Objectives
For nearly two decades, Hezbollah’s stated objective was to
drive IDF forces from southern Lebanon, through a range of
attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets. Since the
Israeli withdrawal in 2000, Hezbollah has used Israel’s
remaining presence in the Sheb’a Farms and other disputed
areas in the Lebanon-Syria-Israel tri-border region (see
Figure 1) to justify its ongoing conflict with Israel—and its
persistence as an armed militia alongside the Lebanese
Armed Forces (LAF). Hezbollah also bolsters Iranian
objectives; the State Department’s 2021 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.”
Hezbollah operates a global criminal-financial network,
with reported hubs in Europe, 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 2022 reports highlight
Hezbollah’s role in the trafficking of amphetamine-type
stimulants, marketed as “captagon,” along the Syria-
Lebanon border.
In addition to military and criminal objectives, Hezbollah
also seeks influence in Lebanon’s political system, likely in
part to prevent the government from targeting the group’s
weapons stockpiles or private telecommunications network.
Hezbollah in Lebanese Politics
Hezbollah has participated in 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
government by withdrawing from the cabinet alongside its
political allies. The group is part of the March 8 political
coalition, which also includes the Free Patriotic Movement
(Christian) and the Amal Movement (Shi’a). Hezbollah
holds two seats in Lebanon’s caretaker government.
Hezbollah did not gain additional parliamentary seats in the
2018 or 2022 legislative elections (it continues to hold 13
out of 128). However, following the expiration of President
Michel Aoun’s term in October 2022, Hezbollah and its
March 8 allies have obstructed efforts by parliament to elect
a president by preventing the formation of a quorum and by
casting blank ballots in parliamentary electoral sessions. In
November 2022, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary
