Hizballah

Hizballah (or "Party of God") is also written as Hizbullah and Hezbollah.

Hizballah is a radical Shia group formed in Lebanon, dedicated to the creation of an Iranian-style Islamic republic in Lebanon and removal of all non-Islamic influences from the area. It is strongly anti-West and anti-Israel. It is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran but may have conducted operations that were not approved by Tehran.

It is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-United States terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983 and the United States embassy[?] annex in Beirut in September 1984. Elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention of U.S. and other Western hostages in Lebanon. The group also attacked the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992.

The organization is believed to consist of several thousand members.

It operates in the Bekaa Valley[?], the southern suburbs of Beirut, and southern Lebanon. It has established cells in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and elsewhere.

It receives substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran and Syria.

Reference

• This article incorporates text from the United States Department of State, "Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations," released by the Office of Counterterrorism[?], October 8, 1999.

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Hizballah came into existence after Israel attacked and occupied southern Lebanon (where nearly all of Shia muslims of Lebonon live) in 1978. The Israelis continued their occupation in violation of UN Security Council resolution number 425.

American involvement On August 25, 1982, elements of US Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 2-82 and 32nd Marine Amphibious Unit conducted a flawless landing from the sea into the Port of Beirut, Lebanon. After occupying the Port, elements of 32nd, serving as the US portion of a multinational force, evacuated 6,436 combatants, including Syrian and PLO elements, in order to stablize the city.

In order to quash Lebanese resistance to the Israeli occupation, the Israeli air force has (and continued to) conducted massive bombing runs on Shia villages in southern Lebanon and vital civilian services, including 3 power plants, a radio station, etc., as well as allegedly targeting civilians. The Israelis have used tank shelling, helicopter bombing, missile fire, and heavy machine gunning on targets in southern Lebanon. The Hizballah have defended their territories against their occupiers and bombers by using low intensity warfare tactics, including bombing of military and political targets.

The American media often associate the name 'Hizballah' with 'terrorism' in the minds of Americans, whereas other world sources do not.

The Hizballah, as a self-described defensive force, have never been engaged in any form of struggle against Israeli citizens - their struggle started and ended with Israeli occupying forces, and for a short while, with the US "Peacekeeping Forces" who the Hizballah claimed had been supporting the Israelis. Hizballah has not been very active outside the borders of Lebanon (however, see Argentina and border disputes).

For a long time, the Israeli air force conducted bombing runs on Shia villages in southern Lebanon, killing villagers, calling it "getting rid of terrorists who hide there". However, all of these victims were people who lived in Lebanon and were defending their lands from military occupation by the Israelis; the Israeli claim that some of them were terrorists may never be settled.

Since the end of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon on May 24, 2001, the Hizballah has been involved in activities like building schools, clinics, hospitals and other needed services for their society, as well as capturing 3 Israeli soldiers in a border raid and attacking Israeli forces near Shebaa Farms.