Mideast: What is Hezbollah And What's it Doing in Lebanon?
Global focus on Lebanon prompted by the recent devastating explosions in Beirut has cast light on the country’s political and economic ills, much of which has been related to the role of Hezbollah in the country, but what really is Hezbollah doing in Lebanon?
Hezbollah remains the most controversial political entity in Lebanon today. Geopolitical implications the group has throughout the Middle East put Beirut at the center of a regional power dynamic that has pitted most players in the region against each other. With recent explosions in Lebanon exposing the incompetence and ill-management of the current Lebanese administration, and with crippling economic conditions further weakening any sense of cohesion in the state, Hezbollah stands as a culpable scapegoat at the least and a willing partner in the destabilization of Lebanon at the most. But what really is Hezbollah in the first place, and what role does it play in Lebanese affairs and the current political and economic situation in the country.
What Is Hezbollah?
Hezbollah, literally “Party of God” in Arabic is a Shiite Islamist party founded within Lebanon in the mid-1980s. The party itself formed as a response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the relative disenfranchisement of Shiites within the Lebanese state at the time. During Lebanon’s civil war, Shiites were forced to align with parties that did not necessarily represent the religious Shiite community, and over time led to the establishment of a group of Iranian influenced militants that took up arms against the Israeli occupation of the country. After occupying much of Southern Lebanon, laying siege to Beirut and pushing the Palestinian Liberation Organization leadership out of the country, Israel was met with a formidable enemy in Hezbollah which conducted numerous attacks on foreign powers working within Lebanon, including bombing the US embassy in 1983 and killing around 305 Americans and French.
Soon Hezbollah would grow to be a major military and political entity in the country and would be charged with abducting Israeli soldiers, conducting suicide bombs in Europe, and even assassinating Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Under the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah has grown into a mainstay party in Lebanon and has been supported thoroughly by Iran, which it continues to receive millions of dollars of support from. Politically, since the 2018 national election, Hezbollah has held thirteen out of the 128 seats in Lebanon’s parliament and has maintained a network of social infrastructure and services that include health-care and educational facilities which have earned the support of not only Shiite Lebanese but even their Christian and Sunni compatriots.
Hezbollah, Iran, and Israel
Hezbollah’s most contentious relationship in the region continues to be its antagonistic interactions with Israel. Considering the political environment that resulted in the creation of Hezbollah, its combative relationship with Israel is hardly surprising but represents a major conflict that continues to plague Lebanon. Most recently, before the explosion on August 4th, tensions between the two were quickly escalating with Israeli sending reinforcements to the Lebanese border while the two continue to clash in Syria where Israel periodically attacks Iranian-backed militias operating within the country, who are allied with the Assad regime. But of course, Hezbollah’s most important relationship is with Iran, its patron, and stimulus. Presently, Iran through not only material resources but also through its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Quds force—which has trained Hezbollah militiamen and has at times blatantly shown allegiance with the organization, exemplified by recent comments made by Iranian commander Hossein Salami promising that the country will mobilize to help the Lebanese state with Hezbollah after the recent blast— has ensured that Hezbollah has acted a proxy entity acting within the Lebanese state and its various spheres in similar terms to other instances of pro-Iranian groups working within Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Iran’s relationship with Israel is widely known and Hezbollah’s relationship can really be seen as an extension of the contention between the two states, with Israel weary of the role of pro-Iranian groups at its border and Iran suspicious of any sort of geopolitical alliance that threatens its ambitions of a Shiite Islamist region.
What are They Doing in Lebanon?
Hezbollah is Lebanon’s most powerful political faction and has brought its Shiite population to the forefront of the country’s political and civic sphere. The party has also made it clear that it opposed to anti-government protests and although many young Shiites are frustrated with the country’s system and ethno-sectarian political infrastructure, many are unwilling to go against Hezbollah and the material resources and patronage the group continues to provide to Shiites in the country.
Hezbollah wants to and has largely succeeded in, dominating Lebanon’s political scene. The group has found an ally in the president of the country, the Maronite Michel Aoun, who has essentially acted as a puppet for the party and unlike the Prime Minister, will not easily resign. Ties between Hezbollah and the President are so strong that according to one editorialist, it may be the main reason that Aoun refuses to conduct an international inquiry into the cause of the recent explosions: in fear that it’ll expose any less than favoring information on Hezbollah, who controlled the area made the epicenter of the explosion.
Hezbollah is not unlike many other parties that work within countries in the Middle East. One could easily point to other strongman militia/political groups that through the exploitation of ethno-sectarian tensions and political patronage have brokered power arrangements, the pro-Iranian militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq may serve as a good example. Indeed, as Iran continues to use these proxy groups to extend Shiite-Islamist influence throughout the region, these groups will continue to pursue control of the state and political (and by extension military) domination. These organizations will continue to use coercive means, both against domestic enemies and foreign entities, namely the United States and Israel, to control and continue to usurp power from whatever legitimate alternative still exists in these countries. There is a reason that Hezbollah and Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah have such similar-sounding names. They operate with a similar purpose and are pushed forward by the same regional power. Hezbollah is doing in Lebanon what it has been doing since its inception: finding a way to dominate so that it furthers its own political ambitions and disrupts the activities of regional enemies. The real tragedy is that ordinary Lebanese are caught in the middle of these antagonistic geopolitical relationships, and not enough focus by those ruling the country is given to the economic prosperity of Lebanon and the right of its citizenry to live in reasonable conditions without the threat of terror and violence pervading their lives.
Nasrallah 10 years ago claimed “Our options are open and we have all the time in the world. Nobody can pressure us... And our enemy is troubled. Let it be troubled; troubled every day, everywhere, every place, and for every target. But we are the ones to choose the time and place and target.” But perhaps Hezbollah does not have all the time of the world and Lebanese citizenry, prompted by recent tragedies will succeed in their attempts to end the political domination of Hezbollah. This may be a cross-sect initiative, as indeed many Shiites remain opposed to Hezbollah. Hezbollah may not be able to navigate post-protest Lebanon. Perhaps for the best.
