Why Hezbollah is a More Formidable Enemy for Israel Than Hamas

Since a new war broke out between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas Oct. 7, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah has expressed solidarity with Hamas through military action. It has fired missiles, mortars and rockets into northern Israel almost daily, prompting Israel to respond with its own fire. On April 13, while Iran, which supports both Hezbollah and Hamas, conducted an unprecedented aerial bombardment of Israel, Hezbollah launched its own barrage, further testing Israel’s air defenses. The escalation between Israel and Iran raised the chances of a new full-scale war between Hezbollah and Israel, for which the Lebanese group is a more worrying enemy than Hamas. At the same time, both sides have reasons to avoid such an outcome.

Shiite Muslims in Lebanon formed what would become Hezbollah — “party of God” — in 1982, in reaction to Israel’s occupation of the country’s south. The movement was inspired by the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Shiite-majority Iran, and Hezbollah is heavily influenced by Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. (Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims each comprise about 30% of Lebanon’s population.) Because it is separate from Lebanon’s military, Hezbollah can attack targets without provoking the reaction such a move by a state would precipitate. Still, Israel and Hezbollah have fought repeated battles, including a war in 2006. Like Hamas, Hezbollah is designated by the US as a terrorist organization. The group is thought to have been behind a number of major attacks on US targets in the 1980s.