Political party, terrorist organisation, resistance group, military powerhouse, Iranian proxy,
a "state within a state" all terms that have been used to describe
Hezbollah.
But what exactly is it?
Hezbollah is a political and military organisation that is based in Lebanon that is mainly made
up Shi'ite Muslims.
It views itself first and foremost as a resistance group against the state of Israel, as well
as Western involvement in the Middle East.
For those of you who don't know, Lebanon is a Middle Eastern country that is bordered
by Syria in the north and east, and Israel in the south.
Geography and regional politics are important factors in the history - and even the existence
- of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, which means "Party of God", first emerged in 1982 following the Israeli invasion
of Lebanon that same year.
The primary aim of the Israeli invasion was to expel fighters from the Palestine Liberation
Organisation who were launching attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon.
But Israel's forces proceeded to invade Lebanon as far north as the capital Beirut and then
remained in an area of the south, which it dubbed the "security zone", for the next 18
years.
Israel's actions encouraged a faction of disenfranchised Shi'ite Muslims in Lebanon to take up arms
and offer resistance to the Israeli occupation.
This movement, which became known as Hezbollah, received vital financial support from Iran,
as well as training from Iran's notorious Revolutionary Guard.
In 1985 Hezbollah issued its founding manifesto which, among other things, vowed the group's
loyalty to Iran's then Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, and called for the expulsion of
Israeli forces from Lebanon, as well as the destruction of the Israeli state altogether.
With help from his ally Iran, as well as neighbouring Syria, Hezbollah developed into a political
organisation with a substantial security apparatus as well as a social services and health care
network which has won it wide popular support.
Hezbollah competed in national elections for the first time in 1992, winning eight parliamentary
seats out of 128.
In Lebanon's most recent national elections, held in 2009, it won ten seats.
The movement has also participated in national unicy or coalition governments and in 2008
its political power was strengthened even more when it was effectively granted veto
power over cabinet decisions.
In fact, Hezbollah is so well resourced and wields so much power and influence in Lebanon
that it is sometimes referred to as a "state within a state".
The movement's popularity peaked in 2000 when Israel eventually withdrew its troops from
Lebanon, largely due to the success of Hezbollah's paramilitary forces, known as the "Islamic
Resistance".
This victory brought Hezbollah huge amounts of support but the movement's popularity was
dented in 2006 when its militias carried out a cross-border attack on Israel, capturing
two soldiers and killing several others.
The incident triggered a month-long war between Lebanon and the Israeli Defence Forces which
caused huge destruction in Lebanon.
In October 1997 the US State department designated Hezbollah a Foreign Terrorist Organisation
and in 2010 the Obama administration described the movement as "the most technically capable
terrorist group in the world."
Several major terrorist operations across the world have been attributed to Hezbollah
or its affiliates but the group disputes its involvement in many, including the assassination
of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
In July 2012 Hezbollah was blamed for the bombing of a bus that was carrying Israeli
tourists in Bulgaria, killing six people and injuring 30 others.
The attack was the deadliest on Israelis abroad since 2004 and the first in an EU member state.
Although the Bulgarian government has repeatedly said that its "justified conclusion" is that
two accomplices to the bombing are members of Hezbollah, it has also stressed that this
evidence is purely circumstantial.
In May 2013, thousands of Hezbollah fighters arrived in Syria to help government forces
in the fight to take back the rebel-held town of Qusair, near to the Lebanese border.
The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is also a Shi'ite Muslim, and Hezbollah has long been
an ally of the Syrian government.
Hezbollah's fighters are armed with sophisticated Iranian missiles and many analysts believe
they could tip Syria's battlefield in the favour of the Assad government.
In July 2013 the European Union took the unanimous decision to put Hezbollah's so-called "military
wing" on its terrorist blacklist.
This was a major reversal of policy for the EU and though the bombing attack in Bulgaria
was given as the main reason for the EU's decision, it seems likely that Hezbollah's
new "terrorist" status will be used by Western governments in its rhetoric against the Assad
regime and its supporters.
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