Why is there a palpable fear of Hezbollah in Israel and America?

Israel has asked more than a million Gazans as well as United Nations officials to relocate from North Gaza to southern areas within 24 hours as it prepares for a ground assault on Gaza which is likely to be extremely brutal. Yet, there is nervousness in Israel, the American military and the political elite over the risk of a trigger getting pulled on Israel's northern border with Lebanon — an attack by Hezbollah, the battle-hardened Lebanese terror group which is more organised and better-equipped than Hamas.

The fear of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, is palpable as all eyes are watching it for any move to join Hamas against Israel. If that happens, the Israel-Hamas war will widen and can explode into a bigger conflict with the potential of drawing in other countries, particularly Iran, into the war.

Hezbollah's reaction


Israel has deployed soldiers on its northern border, fearing attack from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Yesterday, at least three Hezbollah militants were killed as the Israeli military attacked sites in Lebanon in response to mortar fire. Earlier, Hezbollah had fired a guided missile at an Israeli tank. and Israel bombed an observation post of Hezbollah. The Israel Defense Forces late Thursday announced that a soldier was killed in an anti-tank guided missile attack on the Lebanon border a day earlier.

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Former US president Donald Trump commenting on the Hamas attack, during a speech to his supporters on Wednesday, referred to Hezbollah as “very smart", drawing criticism from both sides of the American political divide.

The US has deployed a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to deter Hezbollah from entering the war. “Let me be clear, we did not move the carrier for Hamas,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said. “We moved the carrier to send a clear message of deterrence to other states or non-state actors that might seek to widen this war.”

Hezbollah has issued a stern warning, stating that it will target American positions in the Middle East if the US directly intervenes in the Israel-Hamas conflict, reported The Times of Israel. This statement comes in response to the US's decision to move warships closer to Israel.

Why Hezbollah evokes so much fear

Hezbollah, which literally means "party of Allah", is a Shia Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon. It was founded in 1982 during the Lebanese Civil War with the help of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Forty years since Hezbollah was founded at the height of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the group has morphed from a ragtag organization to the largest and most heavily armed militant group in the Middle East.

Hezbollah, headed by Hassan Nasrallah, is backed and funded by Iran and plays a significant role in spreading Tehran's influence throughout the Arab world. Hezbollah has been involved in military interventions in Iraq and Syria, including aiding President Bashar Assad's forces in Syria's civil war against America and its allies. Israel fears that Hezbollah could provide Hamas with advanced weapons and training, which could enable Hamas to launch more sophisticated and deadly attacks against Israel.

Hezbollah has significantly expanded its military capabilities over the years, claiming to have 100,000 well-trained fighters. It has advanced drones that can strike or gather intelligence. It possesses precision-guided missiles that can reach anywhere in Israel and advanced drones for both offensive and reconnaissance purposes. Hezbollah has on target Israel's critical infrastructure such as power stations. Hezbollah's missiles can prevent ships from reaching Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

Iran provides most of Hezbollah’s weapons and funding, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. It sends the group some $700 million per year, according to 2020 US State Department estimates. Hezbollah also receives hundreds of millions of dollars from legal businesses, international criminal enterprises, and the Lebanese diaspora.

Hezbollah and Israel have yet to relapse into full-blown war, but the group reiterated its commitment to the destruction of the Israeli state in its 2009 manifesto.

When Hezbollah 'defeated' Israeli forces

Hezbollah's biggest achievement over the past 40 years was its guerrilla war against Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Lebanon. When Israel's army was forced to withdraw in May 2000 without a peace treaty, the victory brought Hezbollah praise from around the Middle East. This victory helped to boost Hezbollah's popularity and influence in the Middle East.

In 2006, emboldened by Israeli retreat in 2000, Hezbollah mounted a cross-border raid, capturing two Israeli soldiers for a prisoner swap deal with Israel. This led to a 34-day war also called the July War, which ended inconclusively.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah called it a historic "divine and strategic victory". "How can the human mind imagine that a few thousand of your Lebanese resistance sons, I could give the precise number if need be. They stood in the open ground for 34 days exposed to the open skies without air cover in front of the strongest air force in the Middle East, provided by an air bridge to convey smart bombs from America, via Britain to "Israel", faced with 40 thousand officers and soldiers, four brigades of Israel's elite forces, three squads from the Army Reserve and in front of the strongest tank in the world and the most powerful army in the region," Nasrallah had said in a speech.

An Israeli commisison of inquiry into the war called the 34-day war a failure and a missed opportunity. "Overall, we regard the 2nd Lebanon war as a serious missed opportunity," the commision stated. "Israel initiated a long war, which ended without its clear military victory. A semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages. The barrage of rockets aimed at Israel's civilian population lasted throughout the war, and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it."