Hezbollah

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist movement founded in 1982 with IRGC sponsorship following Israel's invasion of Lebanon, controlling a parliamentary bloc, a social services network, and an independent military estimated at 40,000-100,000 fighters. It has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, while operating as a state within a state in Lebanon with electoral representation and parallel governance in the south and Beirut's southern suburbs.

Since Iran's war with the United States and Israel began on 28 February 2026, Hezbollah became a co-belligerent, launching a record 63 operations in 24 hours against Israeli positions and sustaining 565+ attack waves between 2 and 18 March. For the first time in post-civil-war Lebanese history, the government formally banned Hezbollah's military activities and expelled the Iranian ambassador, directives Hezbollah defied. Secretary-General Naim Qassem, the third Hezbollah leader in two years since Nasrallah's 2024 killing, simultaneously waged a political war against Beirut's diplomatic track, demanding Lebanon cancel ambassador-level talks with Israel while launching drone salvos on the same day.

On 1 June 2026, Lebanon announced a partial Ceasefire under which Hezbollah pledged to stop attacking Israel, following a direct Trump-Netanyahu call that halted planned Israeli strikes on Beirut. The pledge carried no withdrawal conditions; IDF ground forces continued their advance toward the Zaharani river. On 19 June, Hezbollah killed four IDF soldiers near the Litani. On 27 June, the US, Israel and Lebanon signed a trilateral framework tying Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah disarmament; Qassem rejected it within hours as "null", "humiliating" and "a surrender of sovereignty", demanding Israeli forces withdraw first. Israel simultaneously struck Hezbollah positions in Kfar Tebnit, killing a local Hezbollah commander, while IDF Golani 12th Battalion Captain David Hazutt was killed in clashes on 28 June. Hezbollah faces an existential convergence: its Iranian patron is under sustained bombardment, its Lebanese host state has declared its military operations illegal, and IDF armoured divisions hold ground at the deepest incursion into Lebanon since 2000.