![People attend funeral ceremony for Hezbollah members who lost their lives in clashes with the Israeli military in the town of Kfar Sir in Nabatieh, Lebanon on April 21, 2026. [Elif Öztürk - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/AA-20260421-41172241-41172236-FUNERAL_CEREMONY_IN_NABATIEH_FOR_HEZBOLLAH_MEMBERS_WHO_LOST_THEIR_LIVES_IN_CLASHES_WITH_THE_ISRAELI_MILITARY-scaled-e1777814171332.jpg)
Since the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon to expel the PLO, Hezbollah has been a thorn in Israel’s side. Born of that very invasion, the Party — as it is called — waged a relentless guerrilla war against Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon, backed, financed, and trained by Iran. Its ideological allegiance to Tehran was never a secret. In a remarkably candid 2016 speech, the late Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah declared openly what enemies had long alleged: “Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, come from the Islamic Republic of Iran.” In a separate address to Iranian nationals in Beirut, Nasrallah went further, proclaiming that “We were born with Iran’s Islamic revolution […]
