The Hamas organization has a permanent and established presence in Lebanon. [1] [2] The presence gained prominence following the announcement of the formation of the Al-Aqsa Flood Vanguards unit by Hamas in Beirut in 2023. [3]
According to Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Leader Gebran Bassil, Hamas's establishment in Lebanon raised concerns about Lebanon's sovereignty and stability. [4] [5] [6]
The relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah has developed over the years according to L'Orient-Le Jour . Due to a mutual quest to undermine the PLO following their collaboration with Israel, the two organizations were closely aligned in certain periods.[ citation needed ]
Their relationship deteriorated following Hamas's political alliance with Turkey, a country Iran, Hezbollah's supporter, has had disagreements with. Their relationship worsened in 2011, during the Syrian uprising when Hamas supported the rebels against the government. Hezbollah was fighting with the Syrian government against the Syrian rebels which included Hamas operatives present in Syria. [7]
Hamas and Hezbollah's relationship started to improve in more recent years following the improving bond between Iran and Turkey. Hamas has had operatives over the years in Lebanon, the improvement in the Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran relationship led to an increase in Hamas presence and power in Lebanon, reported not only as political but as military support.
Jeroen Gunning, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at Kings College in London, explained that historically, during the British administration between 1920 and 1948, the South Lebanon community and the Northern community were intertwined. Following The Israel war in 1948, Palestinians were forced to Lebanon establishing several refugee camps in Lebanon. In 1969, the Lebanese state granted the camps independence to manage their security. [7]
Historically, Hezbollah's involvement in Lebanese politics was limited to parliamentary activities. However, the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon in 2000 and Syria's departure in 2005 altered the political and military landscape on both regional and domestic fronts. In response, Hezbollah enhanced its involvement in Lebanese politics, officially joining the Lebanese government in 2005. While Israel's withdrawal in 2000 was hailed as the conclusive triumph for the Resistance in Lebanon, a significant challenge emerged concerning Hezbollah's disarmament, leading the movement to vehemently oppose it and even resorting to force in May 2008, pushing the nation to the brink of internal conflict. [8]
In recent years, various Arab and international parties have passed numerous resolutions and agreements to address the stability and security of the volatile Lebanese region. [9]
In 2004, UN Security Council Resolution 1559 was passed, ordering all armed militants to be disarmed of their weaponry. This was to allow the Lebanese state to assert its sovereignty.
According to a US State Department spokeswoman and several other sources, Hezbollah has broken the UN resolution on various occasions. Over several years Hezbollah has been reported to getting arms from Iran and building bases for the production of independent arms within Lebanon. [10] [11] [9]
The Time of Israel explains the previous agreement that the Lebanese army refrains from intervening in these camps, leaving them vulnerable to the control of Palestinian parties, including Hamas. [1] [12]
In 2017, Yahya Sinwar took over as Hamas leader in Gaza. Sinwar, having close relations with Iran according to New Lines Magazine, repaired Hamas's relationship with Hezbollah and with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. The restored relationship united the organization into an unofficial “unity of battlefields”, meaning that any attack on one member of the alliance (such as Hamas in Gaza) would be taken as an attack on all. [12]
In 2020, Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was reported visiting Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps. [12]
In 2022 Sinwar revealed a treaty between the "Axis of Resistance". Analysts suspect a joint security room exists in Lebanon. [7] Despite the organizations' cooperation, according to Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, the head of Hamas's political bureau in Beirut, Hamas did not inform Hezbollah before their offensive on 7 October 2023 in Israel. [7] [6] In a statement to Al Jazeera Arabic, Ali Baraka stated that after the attack offensive military leader Mohammed Deif appealed for support from Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. He revealed the existence since 2021 of a Palestinian Joint Operations Room among the various factions. [13]
Concerns have been raised by the previous Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, regarding Hezbollah's relationship with Hamas. In a letter he wrote in May 2018, he warned regarding the strengthening relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah, referring to them as "the two internationally recognized terrorist organizations.. the Iranian proxy." He refers to a previous letter he sent in 2017, where he informed the UN that Hamas has been conspiring with Hezbollah and its Teheran Sponsor in purpose to expand its activities beyond the Gaza borders. According to Danon, the cooperation between Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran is an international threat. [1]
On 4 December 2023, amid the Israel–Hamas war, Hamas announced the organization's official establishment in Lebanon. The Lebanon-based unit was named the “al-Aqsa Flood Vanguards unit”. [14] [15] [16]
Hamas's announcement called the "Palestinian people" of Lebanon and all fighters to join the group and contribute to the resistance against the Israeli regime's occupation, framing it as part of the broader struggle for the liberation of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. [16]
According to a US official reported on Sky News, Hezbollah had supplied Hamas members in Lebanon with rockets to use against Israel during the 2023 Israel–Lebanon border conflict. [1]
The establishment of the Vanguards during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel faced severe criticism from various political figures and factions within Lebanon. Many argued that such an organization, with potential military implications, could infringe upon Lebanon's sovereignty and violate international resolutions, particularly the Taif Agreement. Critics, including members of the Christian Lebanese Forces Party and other political figures, voiced concerns about a potential recurrence of historical issues related to armed Palestinian factions operating from Lebanese territory.[ citation needed ]
In response to the widespread criticism, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abd Al-Hadi, attempted to ease concerns by stating that the organization would not have a military character. However, conflicting statements from other Hamas sources indicated that some members might be involved in armed resistance.[ citation needed ]
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati firmly rejected the establishment of the new organization, emphasizing that it was inconceivable, and stressed that relevant elements had clarified it was not intended for military action. [16]
An Israeli drone attack in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut on 2 January 2024 led to the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas's political bureau and one of the key figures behind the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. [17]
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led since 1992 by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1559, adopted on 2 September 2004, after recalling resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982) and 1553 (2004) on the situation in Lebanon, the Council supported free and fair presidential elections in Lebanon, urging the Lebanese government to establish control over its territory, disarm militias like Hezbollah, and facilitate the withdrawal of any remaining foreign forces from the country.
The Amal Movement is a Lebanese political party and former militia affiliated with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr, Mostafa Chamran and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by Nabih Berri since 1980. The Greek Catholic Archbishop of Beirut, Grégoire Haddad, was among the founders of the movement.
The Israeli–Lebanese conflict, or the South Lebanon conflict, is a series of military clashes involving Israel, Lebanon and Syria, the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as various militias and Militants acting from within Lebanon. The conflict peaked in the 1980s, during the Lebanese Civil War, and has abated since.
Hezbollah has a Foreign Relations Unit and maintains relations with a number of foreign countries and entities. These are particularly Shia states, but also Sunni groups like those affiliated with the Palestinian cause; and the group is also suggested to have operations outside the Middle East in places such as Latin America and North Korea.
The Axis of Resistance is an informal Iran-led political and military coalition in West Asia and North Africa. It most notably includes the Syrian government, the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah, the Yemeni political and military organization Ansar Allah, and a variety of Palestinian militant groups.
The Iran–Israel proxy conflict, also known as the Iran–Israel proxy war or Iran–Israel Cold War, is an ongoing proxy conflict between Iran and Israel. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has Lebanese Shia militias, most notably Hezbollah. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups such as Hamas. Israel has supported Iranian rebels, such as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, conducted airstrikes against Iranian allies in Syria and alleged to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists. In 2018 Israelis forces directly attacked Iranian forces in Syria.
Saleh al-Arouri was a senior leader of Hamas and a founding commander of its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He was also said to be the deputy chairman of Hamas's political bureau, and Hamas's military commander of the West Bank, although he lived in Lebanon at the time of his death.
Ziyad al-Nakhalah is a Palestinian politician who is the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Following clashes at Masjid Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, many rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, Southern Lebanon, and Syria by Palestinian militants. This led to the bombing of these areas by the IDF.
On 8 October 2023, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired guided rockets and artillery shells at Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms one day into the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Israel retaliated by launching drone strikes and artillery shells at Hezbollah positions near Lebanon's boundary with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The outbreak of the conflict had followed Hezbollah's declaration of support and praise for the Hamas attack on Israel, which took place on 7 October. Clashes subsequently escalated to reach other parts of the Israel-Lebanon border and onto Syria and the occupied Golan Heights. It is currently the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict to have occurred since the 2006 Lebanon War.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Wikipedia articles available about the Israel–Hamas war. It is an evolving list.
Hamas, the entity who as of 2023 had been the governing authority of the Gaza Strip, has foreign relations that spans various countries around the world. As of 2023, Mousa Abu Marzook is the group's head of international relations office.
Ali Abed Al Rahman Baraka is a senior Hamas official based in Beirut, Lebanon. As the Palestinian militant group's head of Department of National Relations Abroad, Baraka oversees the group's foreign relations. He was previously the Hamas representative in Lebanon from 2011 to 2019.
Events in the year 2024 in Lebanon.
This is a chronological timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present).
On 2 January 2024, Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas, was killed in an Israeli strike on an office in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon. The strike also killed six other individuals, including additional high-ranking Hamas militants.
Since the beginning of the Israel–Hamas war, which has mostly been confined to southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, a number of armed clashes and standoffs have been reported in other parts of the Middle East, particularly involving Shia Islamist militias backed by Iran. There has been speculation that any escalation of these incidents, specifically between Israel and Hezbollah—an Iranian-backed Shia militia which is based in southern Lebanon and which is more powerful than the Lebanese Armed Forces —could bring the entire region into a full-scale military conflict. In addition to the Israel–Hezbollah conflict, the Iranian-backed Houthi militia—which controls parts of northern Yemen, but is not internationally recognized as the country's government —became directly involved in the conflict by firing missiles at Israeli cities, albeit on a limited scale; the Houthis have since focused more on seizing civilian cargo ships passing through the Red Sea in order to inflict economic losses on Israel and the global economy, evoking American and British airstrikes against Houthi-controlled Yemen. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria have also mounted numerous attacks against American military bases in the region; these confrontations have increasingly escalated tensions between long-time adversaries Iran and the United States, especially after the 2024 Iranian missile strikes in Iraq and Syria. In the West Bank, over 100 Palestinians have been killed in armed confrontations with Israeli soldiers and Israeli settlers, as violence in the territory increased drastically following the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
| History | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Political wing |
| ||
| Military wing |
| ||
| Social services | |||
| Media | |||
| Foreign relations | |||
| Related articles | |||
