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’.
Dahieh is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It has a minority of Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is a residential and commercial area with malls, stores and souks, and comprises several towns and municipalities, including Ghobeiry, Haret Hreik, Bourj el-Barajneh, Ouzai, and Hay El-Saloum. It is north of Rafic Hariri International Airport, and the M51 freeway that links Beirut to the airport passes through it.
Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination by the United States in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds Force, an IRGC division primarily responsible for extraterritorial and clandestine military operations, and played a key role in the Syrian Civil War through securing Russian intervention. He was described as "the single most powerful operative in the Middle East" and a "genius of asymmetric warfare." Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen said Soleimani's strategies had "personally tightened a noose around Israel's neck."
Naim Mohammad Qassem is a Lebanese Shia cleric and politician who has served as the fourth secretary-general of Hezbollah since 29 October 2024. He participated in the founding of Hezbollah in 1982, and previously served as the first deputy secretary-general from 1991 to 2024.
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.
Unit 121 is Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah's covert assassination team reporting directly to the group's Secretary-General. The unit has conducted deadly car bombings targeting Lebanese military and political leaders and journalists, including former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, law enforcement officer Wissam Eid, military officials Wissam al-Hassan and François al-Hajj, diplomat Mohamad Chatah, and political activist Lokman Slim.
The January 2015 Mazraat Amal incident was an airstrike against a two-car convoy that killed six Hezbollah fighters, including two prominent commanders, and a general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, at al-Amal Farms in the Quneitra District of Syria, in the Eastern Golan Heights, on 18 January 2015, during the Syrian Civil War. The attack was largely attributed to Israel, which did not officially confirm that it carried it out. Hezbollah and IRGC held Israel responsible and threatened to retaliate. On 19 January 2015, Al-Nusra Front member Abu Azzam al-Idlibi claimed that Jihad Mughniyeh and the other Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Al-Nusra Front ambush at Jaroud in the Qalamoun Mountains in the Al-Qutayfah District northeast of Damascus, claiming that it "will be the end of the Persian project, God willing."
Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, officially the 12th Brigade, is a radical Iraqi Shi'ite paramilitary group that is especially active in Iraq and formerly in Ba'athist Syria. It was established in 2013 by Akram al-Kaabi to support Bashar al-Assad in Syria against Islamist rebels. The group is supported by the IRGC's Quds Force, which provides the funding, weapons, and training of its members.
Jihad Mughniyah was a Lebanese politician and prominent member of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, and the son of Imad Mughniyeh. He was killed in 2015 in the Mazraat Amal incident, an airstrike attributed to Israel.
The Jihad Council of Hezbollah is a council responsible for directing the groups' military and security activities. It also exercises considerable influence over the organization's various civilian branches and maintains ties with external partners, including Iran, a key patron of the group.
Bushra al-Tawil or Bushra al-Taweel is a Palestinian journalist, former Palestinian prisoner and prisoners' rights activist from Ramallah who has frequently been held under administrative detention without charge by Israel. She is the spokesperson for the Aneen Al-Qaid Media Network, a local news agency specialized in covering news about the Palestinian detainees, and political prisoners.
The al-Hajj Radwan Force is a special operation forces unit of Hezbollah. Its main mission is to infiltrate the territory of Israel, with specific attention to Galilee and northern Israel.
Ali Hussein Barji was a Lebanese militant and the commander of Hezbollah's aerial forces in southern Lebanon. He was reportedly killed by an Israeli airstrike in Khirbet Selm, Lebanon, during the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present),
Fuad Shukr was a Lebanese militant leader who was a senior member of Hezbollah. A member of Hezbollah's founding generation, Shukr was a senior military leader in the organization from the early 1980s. For over four decades, he was one of the group's leading military figures and was a military advisor to its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Talal Hamiyah is a Lebanese militant leader. A senior military commander in Hezbollah since its founding in the early 1980s. He heads Hezbollah's External Security Organization (ESO), also known as Unit 910, which is responsible for planning and executing terrorist activities outside Lebanon. He is associated with terror attacks such as the 1994 AMIA bombing and 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. In 2017, the U.S. added Hamiyah to its Rewards for Justice Program, offering $7 million for information leading to his arrest. Since 2008 he is a senior member of Jihad Council.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 2 January 2024, with the Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, until 31 March 2024, one day prior to the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Ibrahim Aqil was a Lebanese militant leader who served as commander-in-chief of Hezbollah's special operations unit, the Redwan Force. He was a member of the Jihad Council, which oversees the military operations of the organisation. Some considered Aqil as the de facto Chief of Staff of Hezbollah.
On 12 February 2008, Imad Mughniyeh, a senior commander of Hezbollah, the political party and armed militia in Lebanon, was assassinated in a car bomb explosion in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood of Damascus. Mughniyeh had a long history of fighting the Israel Defense Forces and was a top target for Tel Aviv. Mughniyeh actively participated in the 2006 Lebanon War. Mughniyeh, who was on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list, was killed instantly when the explosive device detonated in a Mitsubishi Pajero. In 2024, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert publicly acknowledged for the first time that Israel was responsible for assassinating Mughniyeh.
Zeinab Soleimani is the youngest daughter of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. She manages the Qasem Soleimani Foundation International. She studied political science at and graduated from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran. Zeinab was the liaison between Soleimani and the families of Iranian military forces who were killed in the Iran-Iraq War and in wars in Iraq, Syria, and other countries in the region. She also traveled with her father to Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon on several occasions.
Lebanon has faced severe decline in recent years, leading to widespread disillusionment across its sectarian groups. After gaining independence in 1943, Lebanon established a sectarian power-sharing system, dividing key government roles among its religious groups. While intended to ensure balance, this system has fostered corruption, patronage, and political fragmentation. Political elites often distribute positions for loyalty rather than merit, leading to a culture of impunity and widespread misuse of state resources, including "ghost employees" to secure support.
Hezbollah 