Lebanon

The explosion of a weapons storehouse in the Burj al-Shemali refugee camp east of Tyre revealed the extent of Hamas’ military presence in Lebanon.

On the evening of December 10, 2021 there was an explosion in the Burj al-Shemali Palestinian refugee camp east of Tyre in south Lebanon. The media in Tyre reported it had taken place in a storeroom under a mosque, damaging the mosque and nearby structures. The Lebanese National News Agency reported the blast had killed and wounded several people (Lebanese National News Agency, December 10, 2021).
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Tension on Israel’s Northern Border – Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel for the first time since the Second Lebanon War (2006)

On two separate occasions this past week rockets were fired from south Lebanon at Israel. On August 4, 2021, three rockets were fired at the region of Qiryat Shemonah, Israel's northernmost city. In response Israel fired artillery at the launch sites. The rocket fire this past week was the outcome of the increasing tension along the Israel-Lebanon border.
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Escalation in the Gaza Strip – Operation Guardian of the Walls (Updated to 12:00 noon, May 20, 2021)

Operation Guardian of the Walls entered its eleventh day. With reports of an upcoming ceasefire rocket and mortar fire continues, although slightly smaller in number. During the 24 hours between 0700, May 19 and May 20, 2021, 270 rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. So far, since the beginning of Operation Guardian of the Walls, 3,153 rockets have been fired at Israel. About 90% of those attacking populated areas were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system. Most of the rockets fired during the past 24 hours had ranges of about 40 kilometers (25 miles) and targeted the southern Israeli coastal cities of Ashqelon and Ashdod, and the Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip border.
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Hezbollah’s response to the economic crisis in Lebanon

For over a year, there has been a severe economic and political crisis in Lebanon, whose end is not in sight. Underlying the crisis are fundamental problems, mainly firmly-rooted corruption and a chronic state of political instability. Additional difficulties have been added to the fundamental problems: the COVID-19 crisis; the negative effects of US sanctions on the Lebanese economy and banking system; the explosion at the Port of Beirut; difficulties stemming from the Syrian civil war (the problem of Syrian refugees who fled to Lebanon); and the lack of external assistance due to Lebanon’s failure to carry out the reforms required by the international community
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The events in Lebanon for the anniversary of the killing of Qassem Soleimani were exploited by Hezbollah for a propaganda campaign within the Shi’ite community to spread a message of solidarity with Iran and its policies

At the beginning of January 2021 Hezbollah held a series of events and ceremonies within the Shi'ite community in Lebanon to mark the anniversary of the killing of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) Qods Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandas, the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization in Iraq (January 2, 2020). Most of the ceremonies were held in south Lebanon (in the Shi'ite villages near the Israeli border). Some of them were held in the Dahiyeh, Beirut's Shi'ite southern suburb, and in the Beqa'a Valley.
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The civilian infrastructure established by Hezbollah among the Shiite population: the city of Nabatieh as a case study

This document is the second in a series of studies aimed to examine the scope and conduct of Hezbollah’s civilian institutions and the extent of their influence on the local population. As a case study, the ITIC chose several main Shiite cities and the rural areas surrounding them in the three main Shiite population regions: southern Lebanon, the southern suburb of Beirut (Dahieh), and the Bekaa Valley. In each of them, the activity of Hezbollah’s civilian institutions will be examined in comparison with that of Lebanese government institutions or other Shiite organizations (the Amal Movement and other Shiite institutions which are not affiliated with Hezbollah but operate under its auspices). The city of Bint Jbeil was the first in this series of case studies . Nabatieh, a large city with a Shiite population, in southern Lebanon, was chosen to be the second case study.
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Lebanon

Lebanon is a small country with a population of only about 4.1 million. Situated on the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon borders on Israel in the south and Syria in the east and north. It gained its independence from France on November 22, 1943. Due to Lebanon’s varied ethnic composition, its history is rife with schisms, conflicts and civil wars based on sectarian allegiances. Since its independence, Lebanon has had a unique political system of ethnic distribution with a parliamentary democracy based on ethnic-sectarian-religious representation. The most important offices are divided among the various religious groups, in accordance with the national charter of 1943.


Lebanon’s social complexity, the weakness of its central government, and the social and economic gaps between the various ethnic groups led to the rise of many armed sectarian-political militias, some of which turned to terrorism. The most prominent Shiite terrorist organization in Lebanon is Hezbollah, which was founded in the summer of 1982 during the First Lebanon War. It is not only a terrorist organization which owes its allegiance to the Iranian regime, it has also been incorporated into the Lebanese political system.


Lebanon has traditionally served as an arena for foreign forces, both Middle Eastern and international. In the past, Syria’s intervention in Lebanon was most conspicuous. Today, Iran’s intervention is most conspicuous: it provides Hezbollah in Lebanon with weapons, ammunition, financing and military training. The border between Israel and Lebanon has undergone some tense periods and several confrontations where IDF forces entered the Lebanese territory. Since the Second Lebanon War (2006), the border between Israel and Lebanon has been relatively quiet, a situation exploited by Hezbollah to advance its military buildup and intensely intervene in the civil war in Syria, under Iranian direction.