BEIRUT – During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Hezbollah was established after a committee consisting of 9 representatives of the Islamic forces agreed to adopt Imam Khomeini’s orientation to liberate the occupied Lebanese territories.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, with Imam Khomeini’s blessing, began training Hezbollah members in Zabadani, Syria.

These groups launched their primary operations secretly until Ahmad Qasir carried out his first martyrdom operation on November 11, 1982, which resulted in the demolition of the headquarters of the Israeli military governor in Tyre, killing more than 100 Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah then did not announce the name of martyr Ahmad Qasir until after the liberation of the southern town of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr in April 1985 to avoid possible retaliation against his family by the enemy as the city was under the occupation regime’s control.

Later, Hezbollah escalated its operations to confirm that the expulsion of the Palestinian resistance leaders from Lebanon to Tunisia did not achieve the goal of ending the resistance in Lebanon.

Israel realized that religious scholars played a major role in mobilizing the people, so it assassinated Sheikh Ragheb Harb on February 16, 1984. 9 months later, it assassinated Sayyed Abdul Latif al-Amin too.

However, Hezbollah’s operations continued until Israel was forced to withdraw from Sidon, Tyre, Nabatieh, and the Western Bekaa district, leaving a buffer zone of about 1,100 km2 (55% of southern Lebanon’s area and 11% of Lebanon’s general area).

On the first anniversary of Sheikh Ragheb’s martyrdom, Hezbollah’s Open Letter was announced, which embodies its ideological, social, and political constants.

At the time, Hezbollah faced Shiite-Shiite skirmishes with the Amal Movement fueled by foreign parties. Unfortunately, the fighting lasted for about 18 months. It ended on November 9, 1990, to ushers an ongoing alliance aka the Shiite duo.

In 1992, by the end of Lebanon's civil war and the reactivation of constitutional institutions, Hezbollah contested the elections securing a parliamentary bloc consisting of 12 MPs.

Then, the anti-resistance political forces believed that Hezbollah would gradually lay down arms in the hope of political gains; strikingly, the resistance operations surged.

The anti-resistance team was deluded that Hezbollah’s involvement in politics was to maintain authoritarian gains.

Nevertheless, Hezbollah’s main goal was to meet the needs of the marginalized classes it represents and to constitutionally protect the resistance project by participating in successive governments and drafting ministerial statements that guarantee the right to resistance against “Israel”.

This angered the Zionist enemy, so it assassinated Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Abbas al-Mousawi in February 1992, thinking that assassinating the head of the pyramid would end the resistance.

The election of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as his successor moved Hezbollah to a stage in which its capabilities –locally, regionally and internationally – accumulated.

On July 25, 1993, a US-led Israeli aggression was launched against Lebanon in a bid to “pressure the Lebanese government to end Hezbollah’s activity” according to what Shimon Peres said but the effectiveness of Hezbollah’s Katyusha rockets rapidly forced it to retreat.

In the aftermath of the notorious Sharm el-Sheikh summit in support of Israel on March 13, 1996, another US-led Israeli aggression was launched on April 11, 1996.

The US-Israeli enemy was surprised once again by the development of Hezbollah's capabilities which forced it to retreat after 16 days.

Then the resistance operations intensified; Israel realized that its continued occupation of Lebanon was in vain, so it was forced – without conditions – to withdraw on May 25, 2000, except from the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Sheba’ Hills.

In quantity and quality, Hezbollah continued to prepare its fighters for an expected confrontation with the enemy that would not remain silent about its humiliating defeat in 2000.
On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers to release its prisoners in Israeli jails.

The US-Israeli enemy took advantage of the opportunity to launch an aggression on Lebanon for a third time; the goal was to “crush Hezbollah”. Later, it was revealed that the US-led Israeli aggression was already planned for September 2006. 

During 33 days, thanks to the qualitative capabilities provided by Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and his direct presence in the resistance operations room during the aggression, Hezbollah surprised the enemy on land (Kornet missiles) and at sea (the destruction of the Sa’ar warship).

Hezbollah also surprised the enemy with precise planning by martyr Imad Mughniyeh, who was declared by martyr Sayyed Nasrallah as the “Leader of the 2000 and 2006 Victories”.

The 2006 US-led Israeli aggression ended with a resounding defeat. Hezbollah, within the framework of Lebanon’s triple equation of “Army-People-Resistance,” did its best to tap all possible energies in defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty. 

Hezbollah’s capabilities and popularity grew until the war on Syria was ignited in 2011 to cut off the supplies of the resistance forces coming from Iran. In 2017, Hezbollah defeated the US-Israeli-sponsored Takfiri militias.

Attempts to implicate Hezbollah in sectarian and religious strife did not succeed.

Hence, Washington imposed brutal sanctions on Lebanon; pressured the banking system; protected the corrupt political oligarchs; controlled Lebanon’s imports; obstructed various investment offers by

Eastern companies (such as those from Russia, China, and Iran); prevented the return of roughly 1.5 million Syrian refugees; etc.

On October 17, 2019, the US-Israeli enemy exploited the popular uprising to demand addressing the economic deterioration. The US notorious embassy in Beirut blatantly incited NGOs and political forces it funds to incite sectarian strife, attack property, and block roads.

The Lebanese Forces were involved in killing 7 pro-Hezbollah civilians. The wisdom of Hezbollah’s leadership led to the disruption of this dangerous US-Israeli scheme.

34 years have passed since Imam Khomeini founded Hezbollah within the framework of his authentic Islamic thought that preserves the pluralistic character of Lebanon, during which Hezbollah humiliated the US-Israeli enemy to prove that the will of the people is stronger than the hordes of US-Israeli terrorism.

During the past 4 decades, Hezbollah – with direct support from the Iranian people and state – has not failed at all to serve its people through various service institutions (academic, social, food, health, financial, etc).

Hezbollah has become an inspiration not only to the peoples of West Asia but to the entire free peoples across the globe who yearn to break the shackles of imperialism.

Unlike the US, 34 years have passed and Imam Khomeini’s Iran has not been stingy in supporting Lebanon with weapons, diplomacy, money, supplies, oil, and medicine without asking for anything in return.