Presumed dead: Who is Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah?

Hassan Nasrallah is presumed dead after Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah’s stronghold Dahieh. His daughter Zainab Nasrallah was reportedly killed in the same attack. Who is Hassan Nasrallah who has been leading the organization since 1992.

Born into a poor Shiite family

The Secretary General of Hezbollah, was born into a poor Shiite family on August 31, 1960, in Beirut. His family, originally from Tyre, moved to Beirut for work, but they returned to their village during Lebanon’s civil war in 1975. Nasrallah, then 15, joined the Shiite Amal Movement.

Rise to leadership

After studying in Shiite religious centers in Iraq and Iran, he returned to Lebanon and joined Hezbollah following Israel’s 1982 invasion. He is deemed as one of the young founders of the organization. In 1992, after the assassination of Abbas Musawi by Israel, Nasrallah became Hezbollah’s leader. 5 years later, Hezbollah was declared a terrorist organization by the United States.

Under his leadership, Hezbollah played a key role in ending Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000 and during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, boosting Nasrallah’s stature in the region.

His involvement in prisoner exchanges with Israel further solidified his reputation.

He and his organization are accused of holding Lebanon hostage to Iran’s regional agenda. By dominating local politics with a paramilitary force, Nasrallah is often blamed for the chronic deadlock in Lebanon’s political landscape. The organization controls many powerful institutions and local forces, exploiting the fragility of Lebanon’s political system and the weakness of its national army.

Despite gaining popularity due to Hezbollah’s resistance against Israel’s attacks, Hezbollah under his command is seen as the sole responsible force in the killings of tens of thousands of Syrian civilians due to secterian conflict.

Displacing millions in Syria

Nasrallah’s popularity waned after Hezbollah backed the Assad regime during Syria’s civil war, leading to widespread criticism. Although loved and idolized by millions of Shiite supporters, Nasrallah is despised by a wide majority of Arabs due to Hezbollah’s atrocities in Syria.

Hezbollah’s participation in the Syrian regime’s war against rebels led to massacres in numerous towns and cities across Syria, displacing millions.

Following the comprehensive attack launched by Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on Israel on October 7, 2023, in retaliation for ongoing violations against Palestinians and sacred sites, Nasrallah’s name resurfaced in the public eye.