What is Hezbollah and how powerful is its military?
One of the most heavily armed non-state groups in the world, Hezbollah is aligned with Iran and there are fears its involvement in the Israel-Hamas conflict could escalate.
Saturday 28 September 2024 11:37, UK
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been left reeling from a series of Israeli attacks that culminated in the killing of their leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Previously, at least 39 people were killed and thousands injured, according to the country's health minister, in pager and radio blasts that caused panic on the streets of Lebanon.
The attack was widely blamed on Israel and came just hours after it announced a "new phase" in its war in which it turned its attention to its northern border.
What followed was waves of strikes and attacks on Lebanon, which it claimed decimated Hezbollah's leadership structure, but also claimed hundreds of lives.
Then, Israel said that in an attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, it killed Nasrallah.
But even with its leader "eliminated", Hezbollah has thousands of fighters and a vast Iran-supplied arsenal of missiles and weapons.
So what is Hezbollah and will it play a role in the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East?
What is Hezbollah and how was it formed?
Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in the middle of Lebanon's civil war, which raged for 15 years from 1975 to 1990.
It was born out of Iran's efforts to export its 1979 Islamic Revolution around the region - and combat Israeli forces after Israel invaded Lebanon and occupied parts of the capital Beirut in 1982.
Hezbollah - whose name means "The Party of God" was accused of frequently carrying out attacks on foreign targets including the bombing of a US Marine barracks in 1983 which killed 241 people.
Regarded as an Iranian proxy force - the group has been trained and equipped by Tehran - Hezbollah has risen from a shadowy faction to a heavily armed group that has major sway within Lebanon.
The US, some Western governments and others deem it a terrorist organisation. In Lebanon, its members form part of the government and have dozens of MPs in parliament.
Hezbollah is a sworn enemy of Israel and openly calls for the destruction of the "Zionist regime in Palestine".
Even after Israeli forces officially withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the two sides have clashed - most destructively in the war of 2006.
How powerful is Hezbollah's military?
One of the most heavily-armed non-state groups in the world, Hezbollah boasts weapons including precision rockets and drones, and says it can hit all parts of Israel.
Its vast arsenal of rockets numbers as high as 100,000, according to some experts.
It receives weapons and money from Iran - amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars annually in recent years, the US estimates.
In 2021, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group had 100,000 fighters - though this is possibly an exaggeration.
In 2022, the Institute for Strategic Studies thinktank estimated that the group may have up to 20,000 active personnel.
Its fighters are battle hardened, having fought extensively in Syria in support of President Bashar al Assad.
How much influence does Hezbollah have in the region?
Hezbollah is a well-equipped military force of substantial size - but it also has significant sway over Lebanon.
It is widely deemed the most powerful member of the Iran-backed network known as the Axis of Resistance.
It is considered to be a divisive group. The majority of Lebanese people opposed Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon and supported efforts to expel them from the country.
However, domestically Hezbollah has been criticised for the political alliances it has forged. And many people are worried the decades-old conflict with Israel will drag the country into all-out war.
The group has also been a source of inspiration and support for other Iranian-backed groups across the Middle East. It has trained armed groups in Iraq and taken part in fighting there.
Saudi Arabia says Hezbollah has also fought in support of the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen. Hezbollah denies this.
Read more:
The dangers posed by an Israel-Hezbollah war
Could Hezbollah chief declare all-out war on Israel?
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What is Hezbollah's role in the Israel-Hamas conflict?
Hezbollah has long ties with Hamas - they share a view of Israel as the enemy and they began trading fire with Israel on 8 October following the attacks.
As of last month, Israeli strikes had killed some 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists, according to security and medical sources and a Reuters tally of death notifications issued by Hezbollah.
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The Israeli military said after an attack on a football pitch in July that the death toll among civilians killed in Hezbollah attacks had risen to 23 since October, along with at least 17 soldiers.
Mr Netanyahu said on 22 October last year that if Hezbollah opened a war front with Israel it would lead to counter-strikes of "unimaginable" magnitude on Lebanon.
Even though Hezbollah claimed not to be behind the rocket attack on the football field in the Golan Heights, the latest strikes could drag the wider region into war.