What is Hezbollah and how is it linked to the Israel-Gaza war? | Start Here

let's talk about [Applause] Hezbollah it's the Lebanese group that's back in the headlines there's been an intense exchange of Rocket fire across the Israel Lebanon border hisa fires across the border every day Israel is targeting what it says are Hezbollah cells some countries classify Hezbollah as a terror group but it's also deeply embedded in Lebanese politics and Society more powerful than the state more armed than the Lebanese Army itself hisbah is a militant movement it defines itself as a resistance and pushing back against us and Israeli policies it's also very close to Iran they take

orders from Iran so how did Hezbollah come onto the scene what exactly is its connection to Iran and how powerful is the group today the name Hezbollah means party of God now that that might make it sound like it's a religious group but it's actually a lot of things it is a religious movement and its members are mainly from the Shia branch of Islam but not all Shia Muslims in Lebanon support Hezbollah it's also a political party with members in lebanon's Parliament and ministers in the cabinet and it's an armed group they say they've got

100,000 Fighters but it's hard to know for sure and some experts suggest it's lower likely between 20 and 50,000 this is a secretive organization even within you know party members somebody working in a what a bank a school could be a Hezbollah fighter and you don't know that and this is uh one of the strengths of Hezbollah um they tend not to show all their cards if you like this is a group that does not have known military bases Hassan NASA is the Shia cleric who's LED Hezbollah for more than 30 years he's rarely seen

in person but in areas where support for Hezbollah is strong like in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut and in the south of Lebanon His Image is everywhere and you also see posters of Iranian leaders because the group does not hide its links with Iran some experts even characterize Hezbollah as essentially part of Iran's Armed Forces a branch called the Islamic revolutionary guard Corp or irgc they are part of Iran's Regional military structure they have Lebanese IDs but their loyalty and their job and their mission is to serve the interests of the irgc's CLS

force close the kuds force is the irgc branch that's mostly focused on foreign operations so how did Hezbollah come about well there are three main factors that help explain its rise the the first is the Shia Factor Lebanon has always been very divided along religious and sectarian lines along with the Shia the other main groups are Sunny Muslims and Christians lebanon's political system assigns them all key positions it's designed so that they share power but in practice it tends to exacerbate divisions and the Shia have often felt that they get the worst deal and are

neglected by the government in Beirut uh the Shia Community has long felt marginalized on the fringes of society in the 1970s a political and armed movement fighting for sheer rights had cropped up other groups were vying for power too including the PLO the Palestinian group that had established itself in southern Lebanon by 1975 they all turned on each other and a civil war broke out the Lebanese are fighting among themselves Muslims against Christians and left against right the war lasted until 1990 and it was in the chaos of all the fighting that Hezbollah emerged and

this brings us to our second Factor Iran and the 1979 Revolution Iran's monarchy was overthrown and replaced by an Islamic Republic led by Shia cleric Rahi the revolution established Iran as the dominant Shia power in the regioni um saw himself and saw the revolution something that goes beyond Beyond Iran he he saw this as more of a pan-islamic revolution that goes even beyond the Shia community so Iran wanted to spread its ideology and influence and everything going on in Lebanon provided an opportunity for that especially after 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon and this is the

third factor that explains hezbollah's rise now Israel said it was going after the PLO remember that's the Palestinian group that was based in southern Lebanon and it had been attacking Israel from there tanks roll into Southern Lebanon the Israelis said they had one goal to root out once and for all Palestinian bases across the border from their Northern settlements Israeli forces reached all the way to Beirut later they withdrew to Southern Lebanon and occupied an area there right up until 2000 the Israel they didn't just like kick the FES out and leave they came they

stayed they occupied and here's where our three factors all converge in 1982 a group of Shia in Lebanon who were already aligned with Iran's revolutionary ideology had come together to fight the Israeli forces Iran capitalized on that providing training funding and weapons and that group adopted a name Hezbollah Iran invested in an organic reality you had Lebanese Shi who suffered Decades of um marginalization from the Lebanese state and also we're suffering from Israeli occupation and when we're radicalized by the events of 1982 and hence comes a um a movement uh to uh build on all

of that from the beginning Hezbollah mainly defined itself as a resistance force against the Israeli occupation in 1985 they stated that the obliteration of Israel from existence was one of their ultimate aims they also said they wanted to kick out us and French troops who were in Lebanon as part of peacekeeping Miss their tactics included assassinations hostage taking suicide attacks and some high-profile bombings like one on the US Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people then in the early 1990s there was a shift for Hezbollah lebanon's Civil War had ended and the group started to

evolve from this shadowy militia into a major power broker isbah set up a political party it won its first seats in Parliament in 1992 and eventually became a leading voice for lebanon's Shia Community Inc comes this party this powerful and strong party who tells them that you know we will protect you from the others and we will ensure that you have a say in government that you have a say in the decision- making process in this country since 2005 Hezbollah had cab ministers running various government departments it's also been described as a state within a

state providing all sorts of Social Services in the areas they control things like health education and youth programs they even give you know these cards to to some of their members to get groceries at a discount but the main thing that sets Hezbollah apart from other Lebanese political factions is that it has weapons a lot of them at the end of the Civil War hasb kept its weapons it said it needed them to fight Israel and it did keep fighting first they were focused on pushing Israel out of Southern Lebanon and got a lot of

credit when Israel finally withdrew in 2000 since then fighting has repeatedly flared up including a war in 2006 which lasted 34 days a big part of hezbollah's appeal in Lebanon is based on this perception that it is the most effective Force to stand up to Israel but having such a strong armed group separate from the government is also seen as problematic his opponents in Lebanon believe that those arms are being used for Hasa to advance its political interests in the country there are many who view it as a problematic uh player on on the Lebanese

scene I would say a good half of of the country would see it as such another way of looking at it is that Hezbollah is both a cause and a symptom of even deeper problems in Lebanon a country with a broken sectarian political system that allows corruption to thrive and has kept the economy in the gutter 80% of people now live in poverty every time you try to deal with the corrupt political Elite you are always hit by hezbollah's arms that it is protecting them take the uh Beirut Port explosion what the it was a

dark day in lebanon's history August 4 2020 2 years on there's still been no accountability for one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts in history not one top official has been held to account Hezbollah is also accused of standing in the way of the investigation into the explosion at the Bay Port at one point this even spilled over into deadly fighting on the streets of Beirut when Hezbollah supporters protested against the lead judge investigating the explosion but hezbollah's activities and influence aren't just confined to Lebanon it's the most powerful group in what's known as Iran's axis

of resistance this is a network of groups that Iran supports to spread its influence and interest in the region it includes militias in Iraq and Syria Hamas in Gaza and the houthis in Yemen but they're all part of the Iranian Regional structure military structure this is this is how Iran Works Iran fights America and fights Israel be proxies and partners this helps to explain why Hezbollah took part in the Syrian War for example Syria's president Bashar Al Assad is an ally of Iran and hasbullah fought as part of an Iranian Alliance to keep him in

power that move alienated some of hezbollah's supporters who felt it wasn't the group's job to get involved but the war also gave Hezbollah a reason to recruit and its Fighters got combat experience uh Hezbollah has also grown its Special Forces capabilities given its role in the conflict in Syria so today you're looking at a group that's really strong militarily it has a lot of weapons a grip on Lebanon and Iran behind it right now it's in the spotlight because of the war in Gaza which has reignited the fight between Hezbollah and Israel Hezbollah has fired

Rockets into Israel killing soldiers and civilians it says it won't stop until Israel ends its war on Gaza and Israel's hit back firing into Lebanon killing civilians along with Hezbollah Fighters and at least two senior commanders tens of thousands of people living on either side of the Border have had to leave their homes many people are questioning whether this could all turn into a full-blown war and a wider regional conflict it's always a possibility but at the same time Israel and Hezbollah both know that the other one has the capacity to do huge damage and

that might be encouraging them to hold back so both sides are still treading carefully Hezbollah does not want a full-blown war and it can hurt Israel it can hit anywhere in Israel it can fire thousands of rockets a day but Israel too can hurt HB if you're interested in news and current affairs check out the full playlist of star here [Music] episodes