Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim Political Party based in Lebanon and a militant group, has long been a well-known adversary of Israel. Since its founding in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War in 1982, the organization has held anti-Israeli and anti-American ideology and has received significant military and financial support from Iran.
Hezbollah’s anti-Israel stance has culminated in the organization conducting numerous terrorist attacks across the region over the past several decades, as well as growing increasingly formidable as a military force. Since Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza, the group has escalated in a number of instances, including exchanging rocket fire with Israeli Forces along the Israel Lebanon Border. As Israel’s actions within Gaza have become more extreme, the group has also threatened to escalate tensions even more.
“Hezbollah is prepared for options,” declared Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the current leader of the group. “We can resort to them at any time.”
Despite the group’s chest pumping, a full front is yet to open on the Israel-Lebanon border. Most of the fighting has been limited to small rocket and artillery exchanges between the two sides, which is not uncommon at the border.
Should Hezbollah engage in further military action against Israel, the fallout could be dire and far-reaching. Given the organization’s backing from Iran, it continues to be well-armed and could pose a substantial threat to Israel, given that the Israeli military is still recovering from the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
Furthermore, Iran has already signaled that its involvement in the Israel-Gaza War is far from idle. Just ten days after the initial attacks, Iranian-backed militias attacked U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria after months of little to no action on those fronts. On top of this, the Houthis, another Iran-backed Shia militia and the de facto governing force in Yemen, have also launched missiles and drones in Israel’s direction.
As the situation continues to unfold in Gaza and tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, the extent of Hezbollah’s involvement will be a decisive factor in the containment of the conflict.
