TWA Flight 847 Captain John Testrake with hijacker in Beirut
Terrorism in Lebanon refers to the acts of terrorism that have occurred in Lebanon through various phases of its history. According to the U.S. Country Reports on Terrorism in 2016 and 2017,[1] Lebanon is considered a safe haven for certain terrorist groups. Terrorist organizations operating in Lebanon include Hezbollah, Palestinian militias, and other radical Sunni Muslim organizations. The government was reported to not be in control of "all regions" of the country which includes many refugee camps and its borders with Israel and Syria.
Some of the deadliest terror attacks involved Anti Western motives, which peaked during the Lebanese Civil War, where militias would target diplomatic missions, namely from the United States and France. Hezbollah also conducted and plotted many attacks and hijackings globally under many aliases in which they targeted Jews, Americans, Europeans and the Gulf states.
Lebanon has become a battleground in the broader regional proxy wars between Iran and its adversaries, including Israel and the United States. Hezbollah's actions in Syria and its support for Hamas in Gaza are part of Iran's strategy to expand its influence and counterbalance Israeli and Western interests.[2] The instability in Syria has had a significant destabilizing impact on Lebanon's security situation. Islamist groups have sought to exploit and deepen sectarian divisions in Lebanon, particularly between Sunnis and Shias. Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian civil war on the side of the Assad regime has angered some Sunni groups prompting numerous attacks against Iranian and Hezbollah targets.
Lebanese definition of terrorism
The Lebanese state defines terrorism through Article 314 of its Criminal Code, which states that "Terrorist acts are all acts intended to cause a state of terror and committed by means liable to create a public danger such as explosive devices, inflammable materials, toxic or corrosive products and infectious or microbial agents."[3] The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon's Appeals Chamber has criticized this interpretation, arguing that the list in Article 314 should be viewed as illustrative rather than exhaustive.[4]
Islamic extremism
During the Lebanese Civil War, the Islamist Islamic Unification Movement (Tawheed) militiamen were responsible for several acts of violence in Tripoli against the local cells of the AlawiteADP and LCP. In October 1983, the IUM/Tawheed executed a series of terrorist attacks against the Tripoli offices of the Communist Party, targeting Party cadres and their families. In one occasion, Tawheed fighters rounded up some 52 top Communist members, forced them to renounce their atheism and then summarily shot them, dumping the victims' bodies into the Mediterranean.[5]
Fatah al-Islam is an Islamist group operating out of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon. It was formed in November 2006, by fighters who broke off from the pro-SyrianFatah al-Intifada, itself a splinter group of the Palestinian Fatah movement, and is led by a Palestinian fugitive militant named Shaker al-Abssi.[6] The group's members have been described as militant jihadists,[7] and the group itself has been described as a terrorist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda.[6][7][8] Its stated goal is to reform the Palestinian refugee camps under Islamic sharia law,[9] and its primary targets are the Lebanese authorities, Israel and the United States.[6] On 21 June 2007, Lebanese State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza filed criminal charges against 16 Fatah al-Islam members accused of carrying out bombings against two civilian buses that killed two people and injured 21 others near Ain Alaq, a Lebanese mountain village.[10]
Many Islamist militias have taken base in the Ain el Hilweh refugee camp. Because Lebanese Armed Forces are not allowed to enter the camp, Ain al-Hilweh has been called a "zone of unlaw" by the Lebanese media.[11] Many people wanted by the Lebanese government are believed to have taken refuge in the camp as a result of the lack of Lebanese authority.[12]
The Abdallah Azzam Brigades was formed by the Saudi national Saleh Al-Qaraawi in 2009 as an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and was tasked with hitting targets in the Levant and throughout the Middle East. Qaraawi is a Saudi citizen and is on the list of 85 most-wanted terrorists that was issued by the Saudi Interior Ministry in 2009. An improvised device blasts outside of the Fakhereddine Army Barracks in Beirut, leaving one soldier wounded. A man claiming to be a member of Al-Qaida called the Lebanese newspaper Al Balad and claimed responsibility for the attack before and after the blasts.[13][14] During 2013, the group start a string of attacks in 2013.[15][16][17] On 19 November 2013, the Brigade claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut, which killed at least 23 people and wounded over 140.[18][19] The group said the bombing was retaliation for Iranian support of Hezbollah, which fights on the Syrian government's side in the current Syrian civil war, and warned of further attacks should Iran's government not acquiesce.[20] In 23 December the Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed a rocket attack in Hermel, Lebanon.[21][22]
Shia-Sunni violence
Lebanese Army patrolling in Tripoli during clashes between Alawites and Sunni neighborhoods.
Because it is a Sunni stronghold, all major currents of Lebanese Sunni Islamism have been centered in Tripoli.[23] Black banners decorated with extracts from the Quran are prevalent and larger numbers of women are taking up the niqab.[24] Nearly half of the Alawites of Lebanon live in the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood of Tripoli and nearby villages in Akkar, north Lebanon. The Bab al-Tabbaneh–Jabal Mohsen conflict was a recurring conflict between the Sunni Muslim residents of the Bab-al-Tabbaneh neighborhood and the Alawite residents of the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood of Tripoli, Lebanon from 1976 through 2015. Residents of the two neighborhoods became rivals during the Lebanese Civil War and frequently engaged in violence. Residents were divided along sectarian lines and by their opposition to or support of the Alawite-led Syrian government.
On 23 August 2013 two mosques were bombed in Tripoli, Lebanon. 47 people were killed and five hundred more injured in what has been called the "biggest and deadliest" bombing in Tripoli since the end of Lebanon's Civil War.[25] Although nobody has claimed responsibility, it was perceived as an attack on the Lebanese Sunni community, with residents blaming Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah.[26] On 10 January 2015, nine people were killed and more than 30 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowded café in Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli, Lebanon.[27] The al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group Nusra Front took responsibility for the attacks that targeted the Alawite area.[28]
Between 2011 and 2017, fighting from the Syrian civil warspilled over into Lebanon as opponents and supporters of the Syrian Arab Republic traveled to Lebanon to fight and attack each other on Lebanese soil. The Syrian conflict stoked a resurgence of sectarian violence in Lebanon,[29] with many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims supporting the rebels in Syria, while many of Lebanon's Shi'a Muslims supporting the Ba'athist government of Bashar Al-Assad, whose Alawite minority is usually described as a heterodox offshoot of Shi'ism.[30] Killings, unrest and sectarian kidnappings across Lebanon resulted.[31]
The Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade, also known as the Ahrar al-Sunna Baalbek Brigade, was a Sunnijihadist group active in Lebanon. It first rose to prominence in November 2013 when it retaliated against the ShiaIslamist group Hezbollah, after clashes between locals Sunnis in Baalbek and members of Hezbollah.[32] The group is known for attacking the Iranian embassy in Beirut in 2013 and attacking Christian churches.[33] On 30 June 2014, the group pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).[34]
In 1971, the Japanese Red Army, led by Fusako Shigenobu, established its base of operations in Lebanon after breaking away from the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction in Japan. The JRA allied with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and received funding, training, and weaponry from the group. This alliance allowed the JRA to carry out attacks worldwide in support of the Palestinian cause. [40]
Aftermath of the United States embassy bombing in Beirut
In 1983 Hezbollah engaged in three attacks against foreign missions in Lebanon. On 18 April, a suicide car bomber stole a van carrying 2,000 pounds of explosives and slammed into the U.S. Embassy killing 63 people including 18 Americans.[45] On 23 October, a suicide car bomber in a truck carrying 2500 pounds of explosives crashed through the gates of a US Marine barracks killing 241 American servicemen and wounding 81. 58 French troops from the multinational force are also killed in a separate attack.[46] On 4 November, a suicide bomber drove a pickup truck filled with explosives into a Shin Bet building at an IDF base in Tyre. The explosion killed 28 Israelis and 32 Lebanese prisoners, and wounded about 40 others.[47]
Malcolm H. Kerr, president of the American University in Beirut (AUB), was assassinated near his office. He had replaced AUB president David Dodge, who was kidnapped six months earlier. A telephone message claiming to represent Islamic Jihad proclaimed: "We are responsible of the assassination of the president of AUB ... We also vow that not a single American or French will remain on this soil. We shall take no different course. And we shall not waver."[48]
It is estimated that between 31 August and 13 September 1983, Jumblatt's Socialist People's Liberation Army overran thirty-two villages, killing 1,500 people and driving another 50,000 out of their homes in the mountainous areas east and west of Beirut. In retaliation, some 127 Druze civilians were killed by LF militiamen between 5–7 September at the Shahhar region, Kfarmatta, Al-Bennay, Ain Ksour, and Abey, where the LF also desecrated the tomb of a prominent Druze religious man. In total, these "tit-for-tat" killings ultimately led to the displacement of 20,000 Druze and 163,670 Christian villagers from the Chouf,
In Lebanon, the PLO aggressively took control of Lebanese towns were militants attacked Christian civilians. In October 1976 in Aishiya,[56]Lebanon, more than 70 Lebanese Christian civilians,[57] including at least 7 under the age of 16, were killed the Syrian backed Palestinian factions Fatah and As-Sa'iqa during the Lebanese Civil War. Four people were reported to be executed and one was burned alive.[58] The village was depopulated and used as Palestine Liberation Organization base of operation.[59]
On 20 January, under the command of Fatah and as-Sa'iqa, members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and leftist Muslim Lebanese militiamen entered Damour.[60] Along with twenty Phalangist militiamen, civilians - including women, the elderly, and children, and often comprising whole families - were lined up against the walls of their homes and sprayed with machine-gun fire by Palestinians; the Palestinians then systematically dynamited and burned these homes.[61][62][60] Several of the town's young women were separated from other civilians and gang-raped.[62] Most estimates of the number killed range from 150 to 250, with the overwhelming majority of these being civilians; Robert Fisk puts the number of civilians massacred at nearly 250, while Israeli professor Mordechai Nisan claims a significantly higher figure of 582.[62][63][64]
Right-wing terrorism
On January 18, 1976, early in the Lebanese Civil War, the Muslim-inhabited district of La Quarantaine was attacked by right right-wing Lebanese Front. According to then-Washington Post-correspondent Jonathan Randal, "Many Lebanese Muslim men and boys were rounded up and separated from the women and children and massacred," while the women and young girls were violently raped and robbed.[65]
In 2008, U.S. authorities arrested Hezbollah operatives in the U.S. and Colombia who were involved in a scheme to launder drug money through used car sales.[68] Chekri Mahmoud Harb is a Lebanese national with ties to Hezbollah and the Medellin Cartel. He is known for his involvement in international drug trafficking and money laundering operations, which have helped fund Hezbollah's activities. He is a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Kingpin Act. Intelligence reports indicated that Harb's operations allowed Hezbollah to launder hundreds of millions of dollars, mixing drug money with the proceeds of legitimate businesses. These funds helped the organization finance its operations despite international sanctions targeting the group.[69] U.S. officials believe Hezbollah began turning to global criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking to offset declining financial support from Iran, which had been impacted by economic sanctions. "The ability of terror groups like Hezbollah to tap into worldwide criminal funding streams is the new post-9/11 challenge," said Derek Maltz, the DEA official who oversaw the agency's investigation into the Lebanese Canadian Bank.[70]
In 2012 United States politician Sue Myrick claimed that mounting evidence of Hezbollah presence in Mexico was ignored by the Department of Homeland Security.[71][72] These groups became more visible by 2010, when the Tucson Police Department reported International Terrorism Situational Awareness for Hezbollah in Mexico, noting the arrest of Jameel Nasar in Tijuana. Nasar had tried to form a Hezbollah network in Mexico and South America. A report from the US House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management tied Middle East terror organizations with Mexican drug cartels.[73][74]
In 2019, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) revealed that Hezbollah had established a presence in Venezuela to facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering. Hezbollah has also been involved in the production and trafficking of amphetamines, particularly Captagon, which is popular in the Gulf states. Captagon production facilities have been discovered in areas of Lebanon under Hezbollah's control.[75]
Lebanese Hezbollah, or the "Party of God," emerged from an Iranian initiative to unite various militant Shi’a groups in Lebanon during a period of domestic and regional instability, particularly the country's civil war Hezbollah's forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards from Iran, with permission from the Syrian government. They were allowed to transit through the eastern highlands of Syrian-controlled Lebanon and establish a base in the Bekaa Valley during Lebanon's occupation.[76] As of August 2002, Iran was reported to have financed and established terrorist training camps in the Syrian-controlled Beka'a Valley to train Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and PFLP-GC terrorists. Iran has consistently supported Hezbollah's involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, assigning Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's international operations commander, to assist Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas and PIJ.[77] Iran utilized Hezbollah for international attacks such as the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing[78]
Hezbollah attributed the 2024 Lebanon pager explosions, which killed 37 people (including 2 children), to Israel.[85][86][87] The explosions were aimed at members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, but victims included family members of Hezbollah militants. Belgian deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter called the incident a "terror attack."[88] The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention condemned the incident as "terrorist attacks against Lebanese people".[89] In official statements, the attack was also labelled terrorism by Hamas and by Iran.[90]Leon Panetta, the former-CIA director, stated, "I don't think there's any question it's a form of terrorism."[91]
Terrorist incidents attributed to the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners[92]
Syria was designated as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism" by the United States in 1979 for Hafez's occupation policy in Lebanon and financing of numerous militant groups like PKK, Hezbollah, and several Iranian-backed terrorist groups.[94] Syria has been allegedly responsible for strings of political assassinations in Lebanon most notably the assassination of Rafic Hariri which triggered the Cedar Revolution and the subsequent withdrawal of troops. International investigations revealed direct participation of members in the highest echelons of the Syrian government.[95][96] Even after withdrawing troops from Lebanon in 2005, Syria continued to exert influence through its support of Hezbollah and maintain covert intelligence operations in the country. Several other bombings and assassinations against anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon include Samir Kassir, George Hawi, Gebran Tueni, Pierre Amine Gemayel, and Walid Eido.
Former cabinet member Michel Samaha was arrested on 9 August 2012 for his alleged involvement in transporting explosives into Lebanon, with the help of the Syrian Security Chief Ali Mamlouk, to carry out terrorist attacks in order to incite sectarian strife and destabilize the country.[97][98][99] Samaha allegedly confessed on 10 August to the Internal Security Forces Information Branch that Syrian President Bashar Assad wanted bomb attacks in Lebanon.[100] According to leaked interrogation transcripts, Samaha allegedly suggested that the planned bombings were meant to target Lebanese Christian leaders in order to raise sectarian tensions.[101] The US government designated Samaha a "global terrorist" for helping the Syrian government, led by President Bashar Assad, launch attacks in Lebanon.[102] Internal Security Forces leader, Wissam al-Hassan played a central role in Samaha's arrest. He was later assassinated on 19 October 2012 in which Syria has been suspected for his killing due to his involvement in the arrest of Samaha.[103]
Venezuela
Information regarding the sale of Venezuelan passports to foreign individuals became available in 2003.[104] Since 2006, the United States Congress has been aware of fraud regarding Venezuelan passports.[104] The Venezuelan government has allegedly had a long-term relationship with the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.[105] In 2006 following the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah thanked President Hugo Chávez for his support, calling Chávez his "brother".[105] Chávez also allowed members of Hezbollah to stay in Venezuela and allegedly used Venezuelan embassies in the Middle East to launder money. President Nicolas Maduro has continued the relationship with Hezbollah and called for their assistance during the 2014–15 Venezuelan protests.[105] Members of the Venezuelan government were also accused of providing financial aid to Hezbollah by the United States Department of the Treasury, which included Charge d' Affaires of the Venezuelan Embassy in Damascus, Syria Ghazi Nasr Al-Din.[106]
The 2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt involved the arrest of 49 men by Egyptian authorities in the five months preceding April 2009. Egypt accused them of being Hezbollah agents planning attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets in the Sinai Peninsula.[110] The arrests led to tensions between the Egyptian government and Hezbollah, as well as between Egypt and Iran.[111]
Europe
On 12 April 1985, the El Descanso restaurant in Madrid, Spain was bombed in a terrorist attack. The explosion caused the three-story building to collapse, crashing down on about 200 diners and employees, killing 18 people, all Spanish citizens, and injuring 82 others, including eleven Americans working at the nearby Torrejón Air Base who frequented the restaurant.[112][113][114] At the time it was the deadliest attack in Spain since the Spanish Civil War.[113][114] Many terror organizations claimed responsibility for the attack, however the case was closed in 1987 due to a lack of arrests. Only the claim by the Islamic Jihad Organization was included in the closing summary.[115]
On 22 July 1985, two bombs exploded in a terrorist attack in Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the bombs exploded near the Great Synagogue and a Jewish nursing home and kindergarten, and another at the offices of Northwest Orient Airlines. At least one more bomb, planned for the El Al airline offices, was discovered. One person was killed and 26 people were injured in the attacks.[116][117] The Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Jihad Organization phoned the Beirut offices of the Associated Press to claim responsibility for the attacks.[118]
From 1985 to 1986, a series of terrorist attacks in Paris, France were carried out by the Committee for Solidarity With Arab and Middle Eastern Political Prisoners (CSPPA), a previously unknown group, demanding the release of three imprisoned international terrorists.[119] The CSPPA was believed to have been some combination of Palestinians, Armenian nationalists, and Lebanese Marxists, though it was later reported that they were mainly instigated by Hezbollah, sponsored by the Iranian state.[120] The CSPPA demanded the release of Anis Naccache, from the Iranian state network; Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, member of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF); and Varadjian Garbidjan, member of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).[121]
On July 7, 2012, local authorities arrested Lebanese-born Swedish citizen Hossam Yaakoub in Limassol, Cyprus. Yaakoub admitted to being a member of the Shi'aIslamic militant group Hezbollah, who had been tasked with surveilling the activities of Israeli tourists on the island. Israel condemned the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.[122]
on 18 July 2012, a terrorist attack was carried out by a suicide bomber[123] on a passenger bus transporting Israeli tourists at the Burgas Airport in Burgas, Bulgaria.[124][125] The bus was carrying 42 Israelis, mainly youths,[126] from the airport to their hotels, after arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv. The explosion killed the Bulgarian bus driver and five Israelis[127] and injured 32 Israelis, resulting in international condemnation of the bombing. The bomber was identified as a dual Lebanese-French citizen named Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini with links to Hezbollah.
Americas
IDF Aid Mission to Argentina in the aftermath of the AMIA bombing
Ziad Jarrah was one of the four hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks, specifically on United Airlines Flight 93. He was a trained Lebanese pilot. He falsely claimed there was a bomb on board and instructing passengers to remain seated intending to crash it into a significant target, likely the U.S. Capitol or the White House, after the plane took off from Newark, New Jersey.[128] He ended up crashing into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, rather than reaching its intended target.
Middle East
On May 30, 1972, three Japanese Red Army members, in collaboration with the PFLP, carried out the Lod Airport massacre in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 26 people. This was the JRA's first major attack from Lebanon. Many of the victims were Christian pilgrims.[129] The only surviving attacker was Kōzō Okamoto.
The 1983 Kuwait bombings were carried out by Hezbollah and operatives of the Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite group Da'wa on December 12, 1983. The targets included the American and French embassies, the Kuwait airport, the grounds of the Raytheon Corporation, a Kuwait National Petroleum Company oil rig, and a government-owned power station. The bombings killed six people and wounded nearly ninety more. Kuwaiti officials arrested seven Shia suspects, and Syrians, Iranians, and extremist Palestinians were also linked to previous threats against the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait.[130] Ultimately, 21 defendants were put on trial (17 captured in a nationwide manhunt and 4 tried in absentia). After a six-week trial, six were sentenced to death (three of those were in absentia), seven to life imprisonment, seven to terms between five and fifteen years.[131] Over the next several years, Hezbollah perpetrated a string of kidnappings and bombings with the goal of forcing the Kuwaiti government to free the al-Dawa prisoners. Hostage Terry Anderson was told that he and the other hostages kidnapped in Beirut had been abducted "to gain the freedom of their seventeen comrades in Kuwait."[132] Hezbollah also conducted two hijackings in Kuwait. On 3 December 1984, a Kuwait Airways flight from Kuwait City to Karachi, Pakistan was hijacked by four Lebanese Shi'a hijackers and diverted to Tehran. On 5 April 1988, Kuwait Airways Flight 422 was hijacked from Bangkok to Kuwait with 111 passengers and crew aboard, including three members of the Kuwaiti Royal Family. Six or seven Lebanese men[133] (including Hassan Izz-Al-Din, a veteran of the TWA 847 hijacking[134]) armed with guns and hand grenades forced the pilot to land in Mashhad, Iran.[135]
On 25 December 1986, en route from Baghdad's Saddam International Airport to Amman, Jordan, Flight 163 was hijacked by four men. Iraqi Airways security personnel tried to stop the hijackers, but a hand grenade was detonated in the passenger cabin, forcing the crew to initiate an emergency descent. Another hand grenade exploded in the cockpit, causing the aircraft to crash near Arar, Saudi Arabia where it broke in two and caught fire. Shortly after the hijacking, the pro-Iranian group Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility.[136]
The Khobar Towers bombing was a significant terrorist attack that occurred on June 25, 1996, in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. It targeted a housing complex used primarily by U.S. military personnel stationed there as part of Operation Southern Watch, which enforced a no-fly zone over southern Iraq following the Gulf War. The explosion resulted in the deaths of 19 U.S. Air Force personnel and injured about 498 others, including many Saudi nationals and foreign workers in the vicinity, with the explosives reportedly smuggled into Saudi Arabia from Lebanon.[137][138]
Counterterrorism
Members of the Lebanon Internal Security Forces show U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard and ISF Brigadier General Fadi Hachem the equipment delivered to them as part of the U.S. Antiterrorism Assistance program
Since the outbreak of conflict in Syria, the Lebanese Army has been deployed to prevent clashes from taking place in the city of Tripoli, as well as in other hot zones such as Beirut and Arsal on the eastern borders. In 2014, ISIS and Al-Nusra Front terrorist groups established small bases and fortifications in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, where they operated against Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army.[139][140]
On June 23, 2013, intense clashes in Sidon took place between followers of Salafist Sunni preacher Ahmad Al-Assir and Lebanese troops. Following these clashes, the Lebanese Army was sent in to capture Sheikh Assir's headquarters at Abra and apprehend him. Lebanese Army units fought against pro-Assir militants for two days in a battle that led to the deaths of at least 16 Lebanese soldiers, and the wounding of at least 50 men. Although the LAF managed to secure his complex, Assir was able to escape and was only captured on August 16, 2015, while trying to flee the country on a false passport.
The United States provided significant counterterrorism assistance to Lebanon's security forces. The U.S. has dramatically increased its Foreign Military Financing to Lebanon to enhance the capabilities of the LAF to counter terrorist threats.[142]
Global War on Terror
For decades, Israel, a key ally of the United States in the region of the Middle East, has engaged in its own war on terror against Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed insurgent groups. Israel launched a 34-day military conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Golan Heights during mid-2006.[4] Following the October 7 attack, Israel declared the still ongoing Israel-Hamas War, leading to a ground invasion on October 27 with the stated goals of destroying Hamas and freeing hostages.[12][13] Hezbollah declared support for Hamas by launching rockets towards Northern Israel. In response, the IDF have so far killed most of Hezbollah's command, including the secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, and has invaded southern Lebanon to destroy their infrastructure.[14]
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Its armed strength was assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army in 2016.
Hassan Nasrallah was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024.
The Islamic Jihad Organization was a Lebanese Shia militia known for its activities in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War.
Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, also known by his nom de guerre al-Hajj Radwan, was a Lebanese militant leader who was the founding member of Lebanon's Islamic Jihad Organization and number two in Hezbollah's leadership. Information about Mughniyeh is limited, but he is believed to have been Hezbollah's chief of staff and understood to have overseen Hezbollah's military, intelligence, and security apparatuses. He was one of the main founders of Hezbollah in the 1980s, and was described as a skilled military tactician and highly elusive figure. He was often referred to as an ‘untraceable ghost’.
On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians, and two attackers.
The Amal Movement is a Lebanese political party and former militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr 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, as well as Mostafa Chamran, were among the founders of the movement.
Hezbollah originated within the Shiite block of Lebanese society. According to the CIA World Factbook estimate in 2022, Shiites comprise 31.2 percent of Lebanon's population, predominating in three areas of Lebanon: Southern Lebanon, Beirut and its environs (Dahieh), and the northern Beqaa valley region.
Hezbollah has a military branch and is the sponsor of a number of lesser-known groups, some of which may be little more than fronts for Hezbollah itself. These groups include the Organization of the Oppressed, the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammad.
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.
Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been accused by several countries of training, financing, and providing weapons and safe havens for non-state militant actors, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and other Palestinian groups such as the Islamic Jihad (IJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). These groups are designated terrorist groups by a number of countries and international bodies such as the EU, UN, and NATO, but Iran considers such groups to be "national liberation movements" with a right to self-defense against Israeli military occupation. These proxies are used by Iran across the Middle East and Europe to foment instability, expand the scope of the Islamic Revolution, and carry out terrorist attacks against Western targets in the regions. Its special operations unit, the Quds Force, is known to provide arms, training, and financial support to militias and political movements across the Middle East, including Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.
The Lebanon hostage crisis was the kidnapping in Lebanon of 104 foreign hostages between 1982 and 1992, when the Lebanese Civil War was at its height. The hostages were mostly Americans and Western Europeans, but 21 national origins were represented. At least eight hostages died in captivity; some were murdered, while others died from lack of medical attention. During the fifteen years of the Lebanese civil war an estimated 17,000 people disappeared after being abducted.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, or al-Qaeda in Lebanon, was a Sunni Islamist militant group, and al-Qaeda's branch in Lebanon. The group, which began operating in 2009, was founded by Saudi Saleh Al-Qaraawi and has networks in various countries, mainly in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Mustafa Badreddine was a Lebanese militant leader and both the cousin and brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh. He was nicknamed Dhu al-Fiqar referring to the legendary sword of Ali. His death was seen as one of the biggest blows in the Hezbollah leadership.
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 supported 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 assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists. In 2018 Israeli forces directly attacked Iranian forces in Syria.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary socialist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization, the largest being Fatah.
The State of Israel has been accused of engaging in state-sponsored terrorism, as well as committing acts of state terrorism on a daily basis in the Palestinian territories. Countries that have condemned Israel's role as a perpetrator of state-sponsored terrorism or state terrorism include Bolivia, Iran, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen.
On 12 November 2015, two suicide bombers attacked Bourj el-Barajneh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, that is inhabited mostly by Shia Muslims. Reports of the number of fatalities concluded that 43 people died directly from the detonation. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a key patron of the Lebanese Shia Islamist militia and political party Hezbollah.
↑ Dillon, Robert S. (2013-04-15). "The Bombing of U.S. Embassy Beirut". The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training: Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
↑ Hammel, Eric M. The Root: The Marines in Beirut, August 1982-February 1984. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. ISBN015179006X. p. 386.
↑ Hajjar, Claude (January 2007). "The War Against "South Lebanon – South Lebanese Army"". Guardians of the Cedars. The Committee of Support for the Lebanese in Enforced Exile in Israel. Retrieved 12 April 2017. Fatah, Saika Organization and their allies attacked the village of Aishiyeh in the South and committed mass murder and atrocities, as part of the Syrian Regime's ethnic cleansing campaign. More than 70 innocent people were killed and 100 seriously wounded.
1 2 "Lebanon’s Legacy of Political Violence A Mapping of Serious Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Lebanon, 1975–2008." International Center for Transitional Justice. ICTJ report. Lebanon mapping 2013Archived 19 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Hirst, David (2010) Beware of Small States. Lebanon, battleground of the Middle East. Faber and Faber. ISBN978-0-571-23741-8 p.111: ‘some 150’ killed
↑ Fisk, Robert (2002). Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon. New York: Thunder's Mouth/Nation Books. p.105.
↑ Jonathan C. Randal (1990) The Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and American Bunglers Hogarth, ISBN0-7012-0909-7 p 88
↑ Bogota, Chris Kraul Chris Kraul covered South America for the Los Angeles Times from his base in; in 1987, Colombia He joined the paper; border, was business editor of the San Diego edition until it closed in 1992 He then began covering the; Afghanistan, Mexican economies until his assignment to The Times’ Mexico City bureau in 2001 He reopened the paper’s Bogota bureau in 2006 He has also covered the wars in; Florida, Iraq He is a graduate of the University of South; News, also has been a reporter at the San Jose Mercury; Union-Tribune, San Diego; Journal, the San Diego Business (2008-10-22). "Drug probe finds Hezbollah link". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-07-01.{{cite web}}: |first3= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (2018). Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Retrieved from https://www.start.umd.edu/gtdArchived 2016-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Coughlin, Con (2023). "5: First Blood". Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny. 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR, UK: Pan Macmillan. pp.80–97. ISBN978-1-5290-7490-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
↑ "Cauchemar sur le tarmac"[Nightmare on the tarmac]. www.airafrique.eu (in French). Air Afrique. 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
↑ RTS.ch (2013-10-23). "Zone d'ombre - Cauchemar sur le tarmac"[Shadow Zone - Nightmare on the Tarmac]. rts.ch (in French). Radio Télévision Suisse. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
↑ Bauer, Alain (2013). "Hybridization of Conflicts". PRISM. 4 (4). National Defense University. Archived from the original on 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
↑ "teror16.11.xls" (in Hebrew, Arabic, and English). Ministry of Defense (Israel). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2014. several declared terrorist organisations are listed amongst many declarations of "association/united group, not, allowed" or, in other words, declarations of an unlawful/illegal organisation – and maybe with other information as well in a large spreadsheet
↑ Ahmed, Houriya; Stuart, Hannah (2009). Hizb Ut-Tahrir Ideology and Strategy(PDF). Henry Jackson Society. p.108. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016. [Taji Mustafa being interviewed on BBC Today programme] the idea of a Caliphate – a unifying authority for which the Muslim world...which we think will bring stability – these basic ideas of Islam which enjoy popular support, are now being labelled as beyond the pale – as terrorism.
↑ 习近平就我国公民被恐怖组织杀害事件发表讲话 (in Chinese). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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