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Hizballah
Formed in 1982 in response to an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Hizballah (“The Party of God”), a Lebanon-based radical Shia group, advocates Shia empowerment within Lebanon. The group also supports Palestinian rejectionist groups in their struggle against Israel and now provides training for Iraqi Shia militants attacking Coalition forces in Iraq. Hizballah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-US terrorist attacks, including the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut in April 1983 the US Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983 and the US Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984, the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985, and support to the Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia in 1996. The group was also believed to be involved in the 1989 assassination of Saudi diplomats in Thailand, the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, and the 1994 bombing of the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires. Hizballah primarily operates in the Bekaa Valley, Hermil, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and southern Lebanon. The group has established cells in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and Asia.
Since the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 in the fall of 2004, which called for the disarmament of all armed militias in Lebanon, Hizballah has focused on justifying its retention of arms by casting itself as the only reliable bulwark within Lebanon against Israeli aggression. To this end, Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers on the Israeli side of the Israel‑Lebanon border on 12 July 2006 in a gambit to negotiate the release of Lebanese and other Arab prisoners being held by Israel. In response, Israel launched an extensive military campaign against Hizballah in Lebanon with the aim of eradicating the organization. Pursuant to the UN-brokered cease-fire in August 2006, Hizballah has claimed victory by virtue of its survival and has sought to use the recent conflict to justify its need to retain its arms as a Lebanese resistance force.
The group is also known as the Islamic Resistance, Islamic Jihad, Revolutionary Justice Organization, and Organization of the Oppressed on Earth.
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