Hezbollah, an extremist group in the Middle East, has been struck twice by Israeli forces this fall, leaving the group without its only two leaders. The most recent event occurred on October 3, 2024 in Beirut when Israeli forces struck a region rumored to have a bunker housing their head Hashem Safieddine, says NPR. The kill, which included 25 other Hezbollah officials, was confirmed soon after.
In September, the previous Head Hassan Nasrallah, cousin to Safieddine, was killed in an Israeli strike. Another act that knocked Hezbollah off its axis.
Hezbollah has been rumored to have trained Hamas, the group also fighting Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. But outside of being known for that and some targeted suicide bombings, Hezbollah’s actions have received little to no coverage. In a survey of 70 CCHS students, 21.7% responded that they had heard of the group only vaguely.
The name Hezbollah means “Party of God.” This group was created during the Amal Movement, a protest headed up by radical Shiite Muslims in Lebanon, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. There was a civil war in the region at the time, as a result of Shiite Muslims feeling oppressed by Sunni Muslim and Christian rule.
For context, Lebanon had previously been led by a Sunni Muslim Prime Minister, a Maronite Christian President, and a Shiite Muslim as Speaker of Parliament to try to separate power and keep the groups in harmony. That strategy wasn’t working though, and soon Hezbollah grew to a size larger than the Lebanese army, cementing itself as the strongest militia in the region.
Over the years, Hezbollah has exerted influence over many of the countries in the region and has a tight relationship with the Ba’ath government in Syria. Their primary tactic has been to force countries to give up land to Lebanon through long-range rockets, suicide bombings, and guerrilla warfare. The group has also targeted the U.S. through bombings on Marines in Beirut in 1983, which killed 220 Marines, 18 Navy Soldiers, and 3 army soldiers. Before 9/11, that incident represented the deadliest day for the United States since the Vietnam War.
Its actions are reprehensible and many countries have tried to blot out its influence but have failed. One cannot help but think of when the U.S. sought to limit terrorist group Al-Qaeda’s influence through the killing of their leader Osama Bin Laden and strikes on the group ISIS, which grew out of the remnants of Al-Qaeda. Although these attempts were seemingly successful, it appears any time one of these groups is taken down they only become reborn as a worse evil. This could be true for Hezbollah and Hamas says Robin Wright of The New Yorker.
Palestinian political scientist and Brandeis professor Khalil Shikaki says these attacks provide “temporary satisfaction” but are “unlikely to weaken groups” and “probably help empower extremists in Israel and among Palestinians and other Arabs.”
In the wake of the strikes killing Safieddine, it’s unsure what will happen to the group. Bruce Hoffman, Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security at the Council of Foreign Relations says, “Hezbollah for the time being will have trouble mobilizing to engage in any kind of effective and sustained combat with Israel.” A comment that must be reassuring to Israelis fearing the group’s routine rockets at Gaza in solidarity with Hamas.
On the other hand, as a result of this loss of leadership, Palestinian civilians living on the Gaza Strip may be fearing how Israel’s relationship and treatment of the ongoing conflict will shift following the downfall of Hezbollah. An increase or decrease in tensions and military action is anticipated.
Hezbollah was key in training Hamas and has worked alongside it, so it’s questionable whether Hamas-adjacent Palestinians will have the same kind of resistance and sticking-power without the underlying support of the group. Invasions of Lebanon, like the one recorded the first of last month, may continue to intensify following the deaths of Hezbollah leaders, according to Vox.
For now, though, the biggest worry is that the group will face the same kind of rebirth as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have had.
The path ahead is uncertain, but at least for now, there might be an abatement in some conflicts due to this loss of leadership.
Here in the States though, it’s important that we all acknowledge issues like these even though they may be continents away.
“Our Catholic faith does push us to seek not only justice for ourselves, but justice for our nations, and the common good, and to make sure that the rights and dignity of human beings everywhere are secured,” says Catholic Innovations teacher Brian Frice. He cites a quote from Pope Paul VI as something nations should guide their responses with: “If you want peace, you work for justice.”
