What is Hizbullah?
ground invasion. At the same time it is evacuating villages near its border with Lebanon for fear that a second front could open in the north. Hizbullah, an Iran-backed Shia militant group based in Lebanon, has exchanged fire with Israel.
Troops on both sides, a journalist and at least two Lebanese civilians have been killed. Iran warns that a “pre-emptive action" against Israel by proxies could be imminent. Hizbullah has gone to war before in support of Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza.
Its involvement in the current conflict would mark a significant escalation. What is Hizbullah, and how great is the threat? After Lebanon gained independence from France in 1943, political power was divided on the basis of sect. The three religious groups with the most adherents—Sunni Muslims, Maronite Christians and Shia Muslims—agreed to allocate government positions in proportion to their size.
Political representation for smaller sects was also guaranteed. After 1948 an influx of Palestinians caused a shift in Lebanon’s demography; in 1975 sectarian tensions sparked a 15-year civil war. During that time Israel twice sent troops into Lebanon to repel raids by Palestinian militias based in the country.
By 1982 it occupied most of southern Lebanon and parts of the capital, Beirut. Hizbullah, or the “Party of God", as its name means in Arabic, emerged during that period. In 1982 Iran began training young Shia militants to harass the Israeli soldiers then occupying southern Lebanon and to fight for the Shia cause in the civil war.
Read more on livemint.com
