Hassan Nasrallah

Hassan Nasrallah (حسن نصر الله ; born 31 August 1960) is a Lebanese cleric and the secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militant group.

Born into a Shia family in the suburbs of Beirut in 1960, Nasrallah finished his education in Tyre, when he briefly joined the Amal Movement, and afterwards at a Shia seminary in Baalbek.

He later studied and taught at an Amal school.

Hassan Nasrallah was born the ninth of ten children into a Shia family in Bourj Hammoud, Matn District (an eastern suburb of Beirut), on 31 August 1960.

His father, Abdul Karim Nasrallah, was born in Bazourieh, a village in Jabal Amel (South Republic of Lebanon) located near Tyre and worked as a fruit and vegetables seller.

Although his family was not particularly religious, Hassan was interested in theological studies.

He attended the al-Najah school and later a public school in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Sin el Fil Beirut.

The school followed the teachings of Iraqi-born Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, who founded the Dawa movement in Najaf, Iraq during the early 1960s.

In 1975, the Lebanese Civil War forced the family, including Nasrallah who was 15 at the time, to move to their ancestral home in Bazourieh, where Nasrallah completed his secondary education at the public school of Sour (Tyre).

There he attended secondary school, and briefly joined the Amal Movement, a Lebanese Shia political group.

Nasrallah studied at the Shia seminary in the Beqaa Valley town of Baalbek.

In 1976, aged sixteen, Nasrallah travelled to Iraq where he was admitted into Ayatollah al-Sadr's seminary in Najaf.

Al-Sadr is said to have recognised Nasrallah's qualities and is quoted as saying "I scent in you the aroma of leadership; you are one of the Ansar [followers] of the Mahdi ...".

Nasrallah was expelled from Iraq, along with dozens of other Lebanese students, in 1978.

Al-Sadr was imprisoned, tortured and brutally murdered.

Nasrallah was forced to return to Lebanon in 1979, by that time having completed the first part of his study, as Saddam Hussein was expelling many Shia, including Ruhollah Khomeini (Ayatollah Khomeini) and Abbas Musawi.

Back in Lebanon, he studied and taught at the school of Amal's leader Abbas al-Musawi, later being selected as Amal's political delegate in Beqaa, and making him a member of the central political office.

Around the same time, in 1980, Saddam Hussein had Sadr executed.

Nasrallah joined Hezbollah after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Nasrallah joined Hezbollah after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

In 1989, Hassan Nasrallah traveled to Qom, Iran, where he furthered his religious studies.

Nasrallah believes that Islam holds the solution to the problems of any society, once saying, "With respect to us, briefly, Islam is not a simple religion including only prayers and praises, rather it is a divine message that was designed for humanity, and it can answer any question man might ask concerning his general and personal life. Islam is a religion designed for a society that can revolt and build a community."

In 1991, Nasrallah returned to Lebanon and replaced Musawi as Hezbollah's leader after the latter was killed by an Israeli airstrike the following year.

After a brief period of religious studies in Iran, Nasrallah returned to Lebanon and became Hezbollah's leader after his predecessor was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in 1992.

Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah acquired rockets with a longer range, which allowed them to strike at northern Israel.

Nasrallah became the leader of Hezbollah after the Israelis assassinated the previous leader, Musawi, in 1992.

During Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah acquired rockets with a longer range, which allowed them to strike at northern Israel despite the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.

In 1993 Israel carried out Operation Accountability.

Much of Lebanon's infrastructure was destroyed during the operation, which Israel claimed was successful.

An agreement was eventually reached whereby Israel ended its attacks in Lebanon and Hezbollah agreed to stop attacks on northern Israel.

After a short pause, hostilities resumed.

As in 1993, the peace did not last for long.

In Israel, it was increasingly debated whether the presence of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon was working, since it was clear that the 'security zone' could not stop Hezbollah rockets reaching into Israel.

After heavy Israeli casualties in south Lebanon, some Israeli politicians argued that the conflict would only end if Israel withdrew from Lebanon.

In 1996 Israel launched Operation Grapes of Wrath, blocking important Lebanese harbour cities and bombing a Syrian military base.

After 16 days of Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the Israeli–Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding was agreed upon.

Again, Hezbollah agreed to stop rocket attacks in exchange for Israel halting its attacks.

After Israel suffered heavy casualties during its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, it withdrew its forces in 2000, which greatly increased Hezbollah's popularity in the region, and bolstered Hezbollah's position within Lebanon.

However, Hezbollah's role in ambushing an Israeli border patrol unit leading up to the 2006 Lebanon War, was subject to local and regional criticism.

During the Syrian civil war, Hezbollah fought on the side of the Syrian army in the strategic Syrian town of Qusair against what Nasrallah termed "Islamist extremists".