FACT SHEET: HEZBOLLAH (a.k.a. Islamic Jihad, Party of God)

WHAT IS HEZBOLLAH?

• Hezbollah is a terrorist organization formed by radical Lebanese Shi’a groups in 1982 with the goals of (1) the expulsion of Israeli and Western presence in Lebanon; (2) the establishment of an Islamic state modeled on Iran; (3) the destruction of Israel; and (4) the capture of Jerusalem and its placement under Muslim rule.
• Hezbollah was designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in October 1997 and a threat to the Middle East peace process in January 1995. 
• For more than 20 years, Hezbollah has been an international terrorist threat - facilitating or sponsoring bombings, hijackings, kidnappings, and assassinations globally. Hezbollah was among the first groups to make use of suicide attacks in the Middle East.
• Hezbollah has taken credit for and is suspected of being involved in a number of direct attacks against United States interests and citizens overseas, including the terrorist killing of 241 American Marines as they slept in their barrack in Beirut in 1983.
• Additional activities have been directed against the international community, not only in Lebanon, but also in Jordan, France, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the Philippines, Thailand, and Argentina. These include:
• April 1983 suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy, Beirut.
  
• October 1983 suicide bombings of U.S. Marine and French Army barracks, Beirut.
  
• September 1984 suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy annex, East Beirut.
  
• December 1984 hijacking of KU Flight 221 en route from Kuwait to Pakistan.
  
• June 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome.
  
• Kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon throughout the 1980s.
  
• March 1992 bombing of Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires.
  
• July 1994 bombing of Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires.
  
• June 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
  
• July 2006 kidnapping of two Israel Defense Force soldiers at the Israel-Lebanon border.
  

HEZBOLLAH LEADERSHIP AND STRUCTURE

• Hezbollah is also a political faction in Lebanon, holding seats in both Lebanon’s parliament and government. Hezbollah provides social services to the Lebanese Shi’a community including education and health care.
• Hezbollah, however, does not have independent political, social, military, and terrorist “wings.”
• Hezbollah is led by Hassan Nasrallah, its political leader and Secretary General.
• Hezbollah’s global support structure encompasses a network of criminal elements, front companies, fund-raising organizations, and prominent diaspora figures spreading out from Beirut and throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the United States.

IRANIAN AND SYRIAN STATE SUPPORT FOR HEZBOLLAH

• Iran and Syria provide significant state support to Hezbollah, giving money, weapons and training to the terrorist organization. In turn, Hezbollah is closely allied with and has an allegiance to these states.
• Iran is Hezbollah’s main source of weapons and funding and uses its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to train Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon and Iran.
•  “Syria has been a primary sponsor of Hezbollah and it has helped provide Hezbollah with shipments of Iranian made weapons.” (President Bush)