Israel kills Hasan Nasrallah, one of the founders of Hezbollah and its leader for thirty years

The Israeli army has killed the leader of the Hezbollah militia party, Hasan Nasrallah, in a bombing on the outskirts of Beirut. His death was “one of the most important operations in Israel’s history,” according to Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant. At the time of his death, it is difficult to estimate the consequences his assassination could have in the already complex geopolitics associated with the Middle East.

We look at the figure of this man, whose murder could mark a milestone in the future of history.

Hasan Nasrallah He took over leadership of the Shiite Hezbollah movement in 1992 after his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was killed in an Israeli helicopter attack in southern Lebanon.

He was always very aware that as the ultimate leader of Hezbollah, he was a… declared an enemy of Israel. Since 2006 he has been living in secret locations.

Since that date, he has made only a handful of public appearances, the last of which was twelve years ago. Despite the growing conflict, his performances were only televised in unknown locations.

“I haven’t used cell phones or landlines for years for security reasons and even if I wanted to, they wouldn’t allow it,” he acknowledged last May, apologizing for not being able to receive condolences or attend the funeral of his mother could attend. where his words were published.

His eloquence and charisma, recognized in the Arab world, were two of his main assets, as well known as his prudence.

Road to Hezbollah

He was born in 1960 into a modest family in the eastern suburbs of Beirut and showed great religious passion from school on.

Nasrallah, a follower of Imam Musa Sadr, leader of Lebanon’s Shia community who later disappeared under mysterious circumstances, joined the Shia political movement Amal as a teenager and took part in some of its protests.

When he was almost of age, he traveled to the Iraqi city of Najaf, the cradle of Shia theological thought, where he was taught by some of the clerics who accompanied Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Upon his return to Lebanon, he studied under the supervision of his predecessor at the head of Hezbollah, Abbas Musawi.

In 1982 was one of the creators of Hezbollah“the Party of God” and was from the beginning part of its governing body, the “Council of Seven”.

Nasrallah stood out as one of the leaders of the reformist movementwhat I was looking for incorporating the clandestine group into Lebanese political life.

He was appointed general secretary of the group just hours after Israel assassinated his predecessor.

He was 32 years old at the time.

Access to politics

Nasrallah brought Hezbollah out of hiding and turned it into a political partywith a projection that goes beyond a simple militia or a religious brotherhood.

In 1992 he held his first elections and won twelve seats in the Lebanese parliament.

As secretary of the group close ally of Iranreaped Nasrallah great respect in the Arab worldespecially afterwards His combative and uncompromising attitude helped Israel leave Lebanon after eighteen years of occupation..

In later years he maintained his position, eventually leading to the 2006 conflict, in which Hezbollah and Israel traded blows for five weeks in a “special” war that affected much of Lebanon.

Rather than disarm and withdraw from Lebanon’s southern border as stipulated in the 2006 peace deal, Hezbollah heavily rearmed, acquired long-range weapons and continued to harass Israel, which responded fiercely.

During all this time, Hezbollah consolidated itself as a state within the Lebanese state, with impregnable fiefs and a powerful military force.

Hezbollah entered the Gaza war in 2023 to support its Hamas allies and to destabilize Israel’s northern flank.

The brutality of the Israeli response, which lasted almost a year, claimed more than a thousand lives in just one week, including that of Hasan Nasrallah himself.