| INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST SYMBOLS DATABASE |
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| Hezbollah
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Description: The main image in green is Arabic for Hezbollah (“Party of God”). A fist rises from the letters clutching an AK-47. Below the rifle is a Koran and a globe. The red script above the rifle says, “The Party of God, they are the triumphant ones.” The text in red below says, “The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.”
Explanation: The group’s name is in green because green is Islam’s traditional color. The Koran denotes the group’s devotion to Islam. The rifle is meant to affirm the group’s commitment to armed struggle. The globe represents Hezbollah's influence around the world.
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| Name Variations | Overview | Focus of Operations | Major Attacks | Leaders | Ideology | Goals | Methods | Sponsors | U.S.- Related Activities | |
Name Variations
Hezbollah ("Party of God")
Overview
Hezbollah emerged in 1982 from the Shiite Muslim population of Southern Lebanon. Armed and trained by Iran and allowed to operate openly by Syria, Hezbollah fighters have waged a guerilla war against Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon and carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians in northern Israel. The organization's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state encompassing Lebanon and Israel. It has been implicated in terrorist actions targeting Americans, Jews and Israelis around the world. Prior to September 11, 2001, Hezbollah was responsible for the deaths of more Americans around the world than any other terrorist organization.
Focus of Operations
Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, Gaza, Israel
Major Attacks
- Jul 12, 2006: Hezbollah militants entered Israeli sovereign territory, killing eight IDF soldiers and kidnapping two others. The corpses of the kidnapped soldiers were returned to Israel in July 2008.
- Jun 29, 2005: Hezbollah militants fired more than 20 mortars on Israeli troops, killing two soldiers and wounding four others.
- Jul 20, 2004: Hezbollah snipers fired at an IDF post in the western sector of the Israeli-Lebanese border, killing two IDF soldiers.
- Jul 20, 2003: Hezbollah snipers fired on an Israeli outpost near Chetula, killing two Israeli soldiers.
- May 7, 2003: Hezbollah attacked IDF positions in the Sheba' farms with heavy rocket, mortar, and small arms fire. One Israeli soldier was killed and five others were wounded in the attack.
- Oct 7, 2000: Three IDF soldiers were kidnapped by the Hezbollah from the Mt. Dov sector.
- July 18, 1994: Suicide bombing of AMIA Jewish Center in Argentina:
87 killed, 300 injured.
- March 17, 1992: Suicide bombing of Israeli Embassy in Argentina:
29 killed, over 250 injured.
- October 23, 1983: Suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut:
241 marines killed.
Leaders
- Founder: Ali Akbar Motashemi
- Secretary General: Hasan Nasrallah (in Beirut)
- Spiritual leader: Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah
Ideology
Militant Interpretation of Islam
Goals
- Destruction of Israel
- Establishment of an Islamic state encompassing Lebanon and Israel
Methods
Pioneered use of suicide bombings in Mideast. Recently Hezbollah has been favoring paramilitary operations and kidnappings against civilian and military targets.
Sponsors
Iran, Syria and Lebanon. Some funds have come from private donors around the world.
U.S.-Related Activities
- In March 2005, Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, a Lebanese citizen living in Detroit, was sentenced to 4 ˝ years in prison for conspiring to raise money for Hezbollah.
- On December 17, 2004, the U.S. government designated Hezbollah's satellite television station, Al Manar, as a terrorist entity and placed it on the Terrorism Exclusion List.
- In 2002, the FBI uncovered a Hezbollah cell in Charlotte, North Carolina. Several operatives were eventually convicted of raising funds and procuring dual-use technology - including night-vision goggles, global positions systems, stun guns, naval equipment, nitrogen cutters and laser range finders - for the group's military wing. The cell’s ringleader, Mohammad Hammoud, was sentenced to 155 years in prison.
- In January 2002, a U.S. federal judge ordered Iran to pay $42 million to the family of Charles Hegna, who was executed by Hezbollah terrorists during the 1984 hijacking of a Kuwait Airlines flight.
- Designated by the U.S. as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997
- On June 25, 1996, Hezbollah terrorists filled a tanker truck with explosives and detonated it outside the Khobar Towers housing complex in Dahrahn, Saudi Arabia. 19 U.S. servicemen were killed and over 370 Americans and Saudi Arabians were injured.
- October 23, 1983: Suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut: 241 marines killed
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