What is Hezbollah, the group battling Israel in Lebanon?

Online Desk

Founded in 1982 during Lebanon’s civil war, Hezbollah was initially devoted to ending Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon.

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Hezbollah achieved that in 2000 following a long war of attrition that eventually forced Israel to withdraw. But it has continued its battle and seeks Israel’s destruction.

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In addition to being an armed group, Hezbollah is also a political party with lawmakers in the Lebanese parliament and has had representatives in most Lebanese governments for decades.

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It also provides extensive social services, including running schools and health clinics, in southern Lebanon and other parts of the country where it has a strong presence.

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In its early days, the group attacked U.S. interests, causing Washington to designate it a terrorist organization. Those attacks included taking U.S. hostages in Beirut and the infamous 1983 truck bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American service members.

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IN PIC | British soldiers give a hand in rescue operations at the site of the bomb-wrecked U.S. Marine command center near Beirut airport on Oct. 23, 1983.

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In 2006, Hezbollah fighters ambushed an Israeli patrol and took two Israeli soldiers hostage in a cross-border raid. That sparked a monthlong war between Hezbollah and Israel that ended in a draw, but Israeli bombardment wreaked widespread destruction in southern Lebanon.

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Israel’s objective was eliminating Hezbollah, but the Lebanese group came out stronger and became a key military and political power on Israel’s northern border.

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Domestic opponents have criticized Hezbollah for maintaining its arsenal and for coming to dominate the government. Hezbollah’s reputation also suffered when it briefly seized a section of Beirut in May 2008 after the Lebanese government took measures against its private telecommunications network.

(Photo | AP)