Live updates on the conflict with Israel and Hezbollah: Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport reopens despite escalating tensions with Hezbollah

Hezbollah: Lebanese armed group with growing regional role

Hezbollah, an organization that has been engaged in armed conflict with Israeli forces since October, had already waged war against Israel in 2006. Since then, the group’s influence has grown both domestically and regionally in terms of its political and military power.

Hezbollah receives financial and military support from Iran and is the main member of the “Axis of Resistance” – a group of regional armed groups allied with Tehran and opposed to Israel. According to AFP, this axis also includes the Palestinian Hamas, Iraqi movements and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Since the day after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7 that sparked the war in Gaza, Hezbollah has been conducting cross-border attacks from Lebanon. The aim of these attacks is to seize Israeli military resources and thereby support Hezbollah’s Palestinian ally.

The risk of all-out war has risen significantly after Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for an Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs last month that killed Fuad Shukr, a key commander. In addition, Iran has vowed retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which it attributed to Israel.