Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, often described as a "state within a state" due to its extensive political, military, and social infrastructure. The organization was founded in 1982 by Lebanese clerics, with funding and training from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), primarily to resist the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its subsequent occupation of the south. Its ideology, enshrined in a 1985 manifesto, is rooted in Khomeinism and Shia Islamism, vowing to expel Western influence, destroy Israel, and pledge allegiance to Iran's Supreme Leader.
Hezbollah operates through a highly centralized, hierarchical structure led by a Secretary-General and a Shura Council. This council oversees five specialized bodies: the Jihad Council (military wing), the Political Council, the Parliamentary Council (known as the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc in the Lebanese Parliament), the Executive Council (social services and finance), and the Judicial Council. This mechanism allows it to function as both a political force, holding seats in the Lebanese government, and a formidable military power, which was the only militia allowed to retain its arms under the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended the Lebanese Civil War.
Hezbollah is a key component of the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance," connecting it to regional actors like Syria and the Palestinian group Hamas. Its primary conflict is with Israel, which it fought in the 2006 Lebanon War and in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah War (2023– ). Recently, the organization has undergone significant changes, including the assassination of its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in September 2024, and a shift in its military doctrine towards a strategy of continuous attrition against Israel following the 2024 war. Furthermore, the Lebanese government, in 2024, outlawed Hezbollah's arms and began to wrest control of key institutions, though enforcement remains a challenge.