How Hassan Nasrallah Became the Most Powerful Figure in the History of Hezbollah Lebanon?

Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his command center in Beirut on Friday evening, October 6, had held the position of Secretary-General of Hezbollah Lebanon for over three decades and had resorted to a hidden life for years to escape potential Israeli attacks. Hezbollah Lebanon is a paramilitary group and also a political party that controls a large part of southern Lebanon. Nasrallah, a sworn enemy of Israel, rarely appeared in public since the war between Hezbollah and the Israeli army in the summer of 2006, and his place of residence was kept highly secret. However, he held meetings, especially with the leaders of his allied Palestinian groups and Iranian officials in Beirut, and published images of himself. Some journalists and figures who had met with him reported that Hezbollah forces transported them to an unspecified location for their meeting with Nasrallah in vehicles covered with thick curtains and with heavy security measures. Nasrallah's speeches, although broadcast live, were not in person and were transmitted via video link. The United States considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization, but the European Union has blacklisted its military wing while not designating its political wing as terrorist. Hezbollah's political party also has representatives in the Lebanese parliament. Regarding the 64-year-old Hassan Nasrallah, like other authoritarian and undemocratic leaders, the phenomenon of personality cult is particularly relevant among his followers in the Shia Muslim community in Lebanon. He was born on August 31, 1960, in the Burj Hammoud area of Beirut to a large family. His father, Abdul Karim, was a grocer and a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. With the onset of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, his family was forced to migrate to their village near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon. It was there that Nasrallah decided to join the Amal Movement (Hope), a Shia political and paramilitary organization. He spent some time studying in Najaf, Iraq, where Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, the founder of the Da'wa Party, introduced him to his Lebanese student Abbas Mousawi. In 1978, with the intensification of restrictions against Shia clerics in Iraq, he was forced to return to Lebanon. Upon returning to Lebanon, he was elected as the political representative of the Amal Movement in the Bekaa region and became a member of the party's central political office. However, in 1982, at the age of 22, Mousawi and Nasrallah left Amal to join Hezbollah, the new Shia organization in Lebanon formed under the support of the Islamic Republic. At that time, although Nasrallah was considered one of the founders of Hezbollah, he was not in a leadership position within the group. After a while, in 1989, he went to Qom, Iran, for further studies, but had to return to Lebanon due to the conflict between Hezbollah and Amal. In 1992, following the assassination of Abbas Mousawi, the then-leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah was elected as the leader of the group. During Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah gradually gained more financial and military support from the Islamic Republic and became a significant political force in Lebanon, such that it has representatives in both the parliament and the government. In addition to expanding Hezbollah's arms depots, including precision-guided missiles, Nasrallah also increased the number of the group's paramilitary members. According to some reports, Hezbollah has 100,000 paramilitary forces. Hezbollah is the only paramilitary group in Lebanon that has retained its weapons after the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990 under the pretext of 'resistance against Israel.' Nasrallah, who managed to maintain his power during ongoing tensions and conflicts between Hezbollah members and the Israeli army, gradually became a charismatic figure in Hezbollah. The death of Hadi, Nasrallah's eldest son, in 1997 increased his popularity among his supporters. The most significant event related to this paramilitary group occurred in 2000 when Hezbollah, under Nasrallah's leadership, finally drove Israeli forces out of southern Lebanon, ending an 18-year occupation. The Hezbollah-Israel war in the summer of 2006, which lasted 33 days, also allowed Nasrallah to showcase his military power, although this war resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Hezbollah was also accused of involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the then-prime minister of Lebanon, in 2005. During his leadership, Hassan Nasrallah not only expanded his influence in Lebanon but also sought to increase this influence in the region and intervene in other parts of the world. This influence, especially in 2013, increased with the announcement of support for Bashar al-Assad's regime in the Syrian Civil War. Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah, with the full support of Iranian leaders and the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has trained Tehran-backed groups in regional countries, from Iraq and Yemen to Palestinian groups. Arab countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, and even Azerbaijan have expressed concern about Hezbollah's influence in their territories, which incites discontented Shia groups. Since the beginning of the current war in Gaza, Hezbollah has caused the displacement of many civilians living on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border by launching rockets and drones into northern Israel. Hezbollah, claiming that this action is taken to support the Palestinians, has so far tried to avoid the formation of an all-out war with Israel. Hezbollah, which is under U.S. financial sanctions, has been repeatedly accused during Hassan Nasrallah's era of money laundering and drug trafficking by various countries. The U.S. has repeatedly sanctioned individuals and companies that assist Hezbollah's financial network in money laundering. Additionally, regional countries and some others have reported Hezbollah's role in drug trafficking, from Jordan to Italy. Hassan Nasrallah, who was married and had five children, spoke Persian fluently, had a great interest in football, and did not hide his admiration for Maradona. After the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force, Nasrallah stated that his relationship with him had formed about twenty years prior: 'He was always the one who came to meet me; I only went to see him a few times.' Nasrallah described his connection and friendship with Qassem Soleimani as 'one of the greatest blessings' and said, 'We were like real brothers. I was always ready to sacrifice my life for Haj Qassem.' Qassem Soleimani was killed on January 3, 2020, near Baghdad airport by order of Donald Trump in a drone operation. Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his command center in Beirut on Friday evening, October 6, 2023. Hezbollah Lebanon, during Hassan Nasrallah's more than three decades of leadership, gradually gained more support from the Islamic Republic and played the role of the most important proxy group of the Iranian government in the region.