Nasrallah's assassination came because of his bright record of measures that strengthened Hezbollah. Over the past three decades, Nasrallah managed to make a strong army from a small militant group, to an extent that even after him, the resistance movement will keep advancing and remain a nightmare to its Israeli enemy.
The seedling of Lebanese resistance, in the shadow of great men like Nasrallah, has now become a strong tree, and Nasrallah's role is more evident than others.
Hezbollah is a political and military group in Lebanon that was established in 1982 to confront the Israeli occupation with the support of Iran. First, it worked secretly against the Israeli occupation for several years, and in November 1984, it declared its existence by carrying out an esteshhadi (martyrdom) operation by a fighter named Ahmed Jafar Qasir against the Israeli military in southern Lebanon in February 1985 at the same time as the Israeli retreat from the city of Sidon.
Following the attack, Hezbollah officially declared its ideology and strategy of struggle against the Israeli occupation.
In the first seven years of Hezbollah's establishment, this movement was led in a council style, but in 1989, Sobhi Tufayli was elected as the first secretary-general of Hezbollah.
In May 1991, Seyyed Abbas al-Musawi was elected as the new chief as Tufayli's leadership was hit by criticism against his approach and his diversion from the movement's policy. Al-Musawi was assassinated by the Israeli regime in February 1992, and the Hezbollah council chose Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was only 32 years old at the time, as its third secretary general.
During the 32 years of Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah made great military and political achievements, and his passionate speeches and strong and uncompromising personality against the Israeli occupation were among the factors that won him unattainable popularity in the Arab and Muslim world.
Hezbollah military power gain accelerated under Nasrallah's command
Naming Nasrallah as the new leader of the Lebanese resistance movement ushered in a new era in Hezbollah's military capabilities, and within 32 years, this movement transformed from a guerilla group to a well-equipped and powerful army.
With his charisma, Nasrallah recruited and trained tens of thousands of Lebanese youth and gradually transformed Hezbollah from a militant group into an influential actor in regional developments.
The most important challenge he faced at the beginning of his leadership was dealing with the Israeli occupation, which had occupied southern Lebanon for a decade. Therefore, with the help of the resistance forces, the young Nasrallah resolved to push the enemy out of Lebanon.
Under Nasrallah, Hezbollah forces carried out extensive operations against the Israeli military and made Lebanon unsafe for the occupiers, until 2000 when the Israeli army, in a unilateral move and without wresting the slightest concession from Hezbollah, except for the limited areas of the Shabaa Farms, withdrew from all the occupied areas of southern Lebanon, accepting the first big defeat against Hezbollah.
This was the first time that Israel unilaterally withdrew from the territory of an Arab country without a peace agreement, with many Arabs considering this retreat to be an important achievement, something that the ambitious Arab countries had not been able to achieve in four wars against the Israeli army.
From that time on, the issue of weapons of Hezbollah became one of the important issues related to the stability and security of Lebanon, and after the Israelis withdrew, the internal and external opponents of Hezbollah made many efforts to disarm Hezbollah, but Seyed Hassan, with his foresight and strategic view insisted on maintaining the weapons, and it did not take long for his foresight to show its validity in the the 33-day war in 2006, the due to the neutrality of the Lebanese army, Hezbollah rose to become the guarantor of Lebanon's security.
The victory in 2000 was mainly a product of charismatic leadership and the effective command of Nasrallah who focused on partisan tactics to drag the war deep into the enemy soil.
After expelling the Israeli army, Hezbollah began to strengthen its defense base in order to establish its favorable principle of deterrence. At the beginning of the third millennium, Hizbollah achieved many successes in the production of weapons by relying on internal capabilities, and these new weapons were used in the first serious confrontation between Hezbollah and the Israeli regime.
In this regard, in 2006, a war took place between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, which is known as the Tammuz War or the 33-day war.
The war began when contrary to the agreement with Hezbollah, the Israelis did not release three Lebanese captives, and Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in July 2006 in Operation True Promise to put strains on Tel Aviv.
Israel attacked Lebanon to free its two captives and disarm Hezbollah, and a war broke, lasting for 33 days. Hezbollah fighters confronted the Israeli troops and for the first time fired home-made rockets towards the north of the occupied territories.
In the confrontation, 430 Israeli soldiers were killed and 130 tanks were destroyed. This war granted Hezbollah a great military and political victory. The UN ended the war with 1701 resolution.
Hezbollah's victory in the 33-day war set up a kind of deterrence equation with Israel to the extent that the Israelis avoided direct confrontation with the Lebanese resistance for 18 years. This scandalous defeat, in addition to strengthening Hezbollah's position based on resistance, gave Nasrallah unprecedented successful face among Arab public and presented him as the most important figure of the Arab world.
Hezbollah's weapons capabilities are remarkable, turning it into the most powerful non-state actor in the world. This movement has more than 150,000 rockets and missiles. These weapons have created a serious threat to Israel's security, because this huge arsenal can target the depths of the occupied territories.
Hezbollah's military advancement with access to anti-ship missiles, anti-tank missiles and drones has been able to create deterrence against Israel.
The use of anti-ship missiles in the 2006 war highlighted Hezbollah's ability to effectively hit Israeli naval installations. Also, the acquisition of advanced UAVs for surveillance and combat operations reflects Hezbollah's evolving military strategy and technological capabilities.
Under Nasrallah, Hezbollah now has 20,000 to 25,000 full-time fighters and tens of thousands of reservists. The elite unit "Redwan" is particularly prominent for its combat skills and strategic importance in conflicts throughout the region. This special force is responsible for the invasion of the occupied territories and planning for seizure of Israeli settlements and towns.
In addition to fighting the occupation inside Lebanon, Hezbollah continued to influence the equations regionally, and after the start of the unrest in Syria in 2011, Nasrallah, with political insight and reading the enemies' great conspiracy to destroy the support of the resistance in Syria, together with Iran, alongside the Syrian army, fought against the takfiri militias supported by the US and the Israeli regime and the reactionary Arab rulers. By y sending thousands of his fighters, he played a significant role in preventing the partition of Syria and restoring stability and peace to this country. Liberation of Al-Qusayr town was one of the most important victories of Hezbollah in Syria.
Hezbollah forces managed to gain a lot of experience in this war, which was a tough test for them, to the point that Israeli officials admitted a few years ago that with the end of the Syrian war and the return of Hezbollah's elite forces, the occupied territories will face a serious security challenge.
Hezbollah continued to fight against terrorists on all fronts, and in the midst of the Syrian war on terrorism, the terrorists, who were angry with Hezbollah's entry into these conflicts, with the help of the Washington and Tel Aviv tried to force Hezbollah's forces out of Syria by infiltrating the Lebanese soil.
In this regard, in April 2012, the first wave of terrorist attacks on Lebanon began and in Qasr village in the south the terrorists caused insecurity, but Hezbollah fighters forced the terrorists out of Lebanon after several weeks of clashes.
Hezbollah's political power and national position in Lebanon
Under Nasrallah and with his prudence, in addition to military power, Hezbollah became a key political actor to save the country from crises rocked it. Politically, the biggest challenge of Hezbollah was to create convergence in the ethical mosaic of Lebanon which was hit by a civil war not long ago.
The Lebanese civil war was a multifaceted conflict from 1975 to 1990 and left about 120,000 people dead. The struggle between the Maronites and the Palestinians began in 1975, then leftists, pan-Arabs and Lebanese Muslim groups formed an alliance with the Palestinians.
Alliances changed rapidly and unpredictably during the war. In addition, foreign powers such as Syria and Israel were involved in the war and fought alongside opposite sides of the war.
In 1989, with the Taif Agreement signed among Syria, Israel and Lebanon, the civil war ended. After the end of the civil war, when Hezbollah was recognized as the undisputed power in Lebanon, Nasrallah took a patriotic approach, and instead of confronting the Phalanges as the main pawns of Israel in Lebanon who in collaboration with the Israelis had dealt a major blow to Lebanon's security, he established an internal alliance to bring stability and peace to Lebanon.
From 2000 to 2006, Hezbollah chief held prominent transnational political and security positions, the most important of which was the release of Lebanese prisoners. He also played a distinguished role in the national reconciliation after the assassination of Rafik Hariri in February 2005. In February 2006, Nasrallah met with Michel Aoun, the leader of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and the two sides signed a memorandum of cooperation that has remained in place until now.
After the military victories, Nasrallah presented Hezbollah's new political document in November 2009 in a speech outlining the movement's policy on a number of domestic and foreign issues.
According to this document, which observers considered a "qualitative change" in the party's political thought, this movement did not mention the presence of its enemies inside Lebanon and emphasized that Lebanon is the homeland of fathers, grandfathers and generations. The documents insisted on holding weapons as long as Israeli threat existed, adding that protection of Lebanon is a mixture of popular resistance and the national army.
Since assuming leadership of Hezbollah, Nasrallah decided to turn the political wing of the movement into a serious player in the country's developments, with a trans-faction and trans-ethnic outlook, and as a result, Hezbollah won 8 seats in the Lebanese parliament for the first time in the 1992 elections, 10 seats in 1996, and 12 seats in 2000
In the general elections of 2005, it won 14 seats in the country alone and all 23 seats in South Lebanon in alliance with the Amal Movement. In the 2018 elections, Hezbollah and its allies won more seats in total, and in the 2022 elections, they won the majority for the second consecutive round.
Expanding social and cultural influence
Though Hezbollah's focus is on resistance to the Israeli aggression, the movement runs a massive network of social services that include infrastructure, health facilities, schools, and youth programs, all of which have effectively attracted support of Shiite and non-Shiite people of Lebanon to Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been able to charm the hearts of all Lebanese people with its common benefit and development-oriented measures for the interests of the entire Lebanese nation, regardless of religion.
The economic collapse in Lebanon in 2019, with sharp GDP drop and hyperinflation, created an uncertain environment for Hezbollah. Since Hezbollah considers itself to be the guarantor of Lebanon's stability and security, it stepped in economically to help people survive the pressure. At a time when Lebanon was struggling with a lack of fuel, Hezbollah provided fuel for citizens after arrangements for Iranian supplies, gaining more popularity among the Lebanese.
Hezbollah's cultural and military power and influence was not limited only to Lebanon, but Hezbollah's successive victories in various political and military fields also left an impact among Palestinians. The displaced people of Palestine, who had set their hearts on the process of negotiation with Israel for many years, realized that their problem cannot be solved through negotiations with the occupation regime, and with this background, they started a new intifada against the occupiers, an intifada that gave a new breathe to the Hamas movement, and with the victory of Hamas in The Palestinian elections entered a new phase. Now, the Palestinian resistance movements are in a united anti-Israeli front with Hezbollah, and as time passes, these relations and cooperation are intertwined, as we are seeing in the ongoing Gaza war.
After Gaza war started on October 8, Hezbollah targeted the positions of the Israeli military in support of the Palestinian people and has fired nearly 10,000 rockets at the occupied territories over the past year. In his first speech on November 3, Nasrallah confirmed that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was decided and carried out by the Palestinians. Emphasizing that the Lebanese front opened by Hezbollah is a "support and solidarity front" and that the war is primarily in Gaza, Hezbollah leader noted that the front is open, developments are changing and options are open.
As a result of Hezbollah operations against Israeli border regions, about 70,000 Israelis were displaced. Under the leadership of Nasrallah, Hezbollah, which made the northern occupied territories unsafe for the enemy and had taken the field initiative from Netanyahu's government, posed a serious threat to the expansionist policies of the Israeli cabinet's far-right, and for this reason, Netanyahu took a big gamble and assassinated Nasrallah, thinking that in the absence of its leader, Hezbollah organization will collapse.
But this is not the end of the story, and Hezbollah's
capabilities that were built by the strategic leadership of Nasrallah
represent a considerable element in the geopolitics of the West Asia
region and its huge missile arsenal and advanced military technologies
keep Hezbollah a powerful army and a deterrence to the Israeli regime.
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