Hezbollah - or the Party of God - is a powerful political and military organisation of Shia Muslims based in Lebanon.

Hezbollah emerged with financial and political support from Iran in response to Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Its leaders, inspired by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini began their struggle to drive away Israeli troops from Lebanon.

The organisation’s 1985 manifesto mentions its main goal as "Israel's final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration."

Hostility to Israel has been Hezbollah’s defining platform since May 2000, when the last Israeli troops left Lebanon because of  the success of organisation’s military arm, the Islamic Resistance. In 2006, war broke out with Israel after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack. The fierce month-long war with Israel had ended in a ceasefire. Despite two UN resolutions calling for disarming of militias in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s military arm remains intact.