The controversial Lebanese leader said his “last word” a few days ago, when thousands were injured and dozens of Hezbollah members were killed as a result of communications equipment exploding in an Israeli attack.
In response to the attacks that targeted pager communications devices, Nasrallah pledged in a speech he delivered on September 19 to punish those who Israel.
He said: “This is an account that will come, its nature, size, how and where? This is certainly what we will keep to ourselves and in the narrowest circle even within ourselves.”
Nasrallah did not know that this threat was his last threat before his death.
the beginning
Nasrallah became Secretary General of Hezbollah in 1992 when he was only thirty-five, and became the well-known symbol of the group that was once a “mysterious entity” that he founded. Iranian Revolutionary Guard In 1982 to fight Israel.
Israel killed his predecessor Abbas Al Musawi In a helicopter attack. Nasrallah was the group’s leader when its fighters eventually succeeded in expelling Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000.
“divine victory”
The conflict with Israel greatly shaped his leadership. He declared what he described as a “divine victory” in 2006 after Hezbollah fought a 34-day war with Israel, gaining temporary popularity, at the time, in the Arab world.
But he quickly became a divisive figure in Lebanon and the Arab world, as Hezbollah’s area of operations expanded to… Syria Outside, the Iranian role in using Hezbollah to achieve Tehran’s expansionist goals in the region became clear.
While Nasrallah portrayed the group’s involvement in Syria as a campaign against jihadists, critics accused the group of becoming part of a regional sectarian conflict.
At home, Nasrallah’s critics said Hezbollah’s regional adventures had cost Lebanon dearly, prompting many countries to shun the country, a factor that contributed to its financial collapse in 2019.
In the years following the 2006 war, Nasrallah walked a tightrope regarding entering a new conflict with Israel, stockpiling Iranian missiles to form a deterrent “balance of terror” in a threat-versus-counter-threat struggle.
The Gaza war, which was sparked by an attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on October 7, led to the outbreak of Hezbollah’s worst conflict with Israel since 2006, which inflicted heavy losses on the group among its ranks, including senior leaders.
After years of confrontations with other parties, Hezbollah returned to focus on its conflict with Israel.
Nasrallah said in his speech on August 1: “We are paying the price for our support of the Gaza front and the Palestinian people, our adoption of the Palestinian cause, and the protection of sanctities.”
Poor upbringing
Nasrallah grew up in the Karantina slum in Beirut. His family comes from Al-Bazouriyeh, a village in southern Lebanon with a Shiite majority, which today constitutes the political stronghold of Hezbollah.
Nasrallah belongs to a generation of young Lebanese whose political outlook was shaped by the revolution in Iran in 1979.
His young son, Hadi, was killed in battle in 1997, a loss that gave him his place among the Shiite base in Lebanon.
Repeated threats
Nasrallah has a track record of issuing threats to powerful enemies.
With the escalation of regional tensions after the outbreak of the Gaza War, Nasrallah issued an indirect warning to American warships in the Mediterranean, telling them, “Your fleets that you threaten us with, we have prepared for them as well.”
In 2020, Nasrallah pledged that American soldiers would leave the region in coffins after the assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in an American drone attack in Iraq.
During Nasrallah’s era, Hezbollah also clashed with opponents inside Lebanon.
In 2008, Nasrallah accused the Lebanese government of declaring war by seeking to block his group’s internal communications network. Nasrallah vowed to “cut off the hand” that is trying to dismantle it.
This led to the outbreak of confrontations that lasted four days between… Hezbollah Sunni and Druze fighters, and the Shiite group took control of half of the capital, Beirut.
Until his death, Nasrallah categorically denied any Hezbollah involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 after a United Nations-backed court brought charges against 4 members of the group.
