A turning point perhaps in the war in the Middle East. If confirmed, the death of Hassan Nasrallah – seen as the most powerful man in Lebanon – would shake his party, destabilize the country and be seen as a major victory for Israel against Iran and its allies in the region.
“Hassan Nasrallah is dead”, declared this Saturday September 28 on by Israel as the movement’s HQ. “The biggest terrorist has been eliminated”we can read on one of the main Israeli news sites.
Closest ally of Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, Hezbollah has still not made an official announcement on the fate of its leader. This elimination would deal a very hard blow to the Lebanese armed Islamist movement, even harder than the explosions of the pagers, but also to Iran.
Architect of Hezbollah’s rise to power
Hassan Nasrallah was born on August 31, 1960 into a modest family of nine children, in the former “misery belt” which surrounded Beirut. As a teenager, he studied theology in the holy city of Najaf, Iraqbut had to leave during the wave of anti-Shiite repression by then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Back to Lebanonhe became involved in the Shiite Amal movementbut seceded during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the summer of 1992 to become part of the founding core of Hezbollah, created under the leadership of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In a rare interview, he told how he played football in his youth and still loves Maradona.
At the head of Hezbollah since 1992 (he succeeded Abbas Moussaoui, assassinated by Israel), Hassan Nasrallah was responsible for numerous attacks against Israelis. He patiently developed Hezbollah, armed and financed by Iran, into an essential political force, represented in Parliament and in the government. At the same time, he developed the arsenal of his training which, according to him, has 100,000 fightersand has powerful weapons, including high-precision missiles.
Hezbollah is today the “crown jewel” of Iran’s allies in the region, united within an “axis of resistance”, which includes armed groups in Iraq and Yemen’s Houthi rebels as well as that Palestinian Hamas. Since the start of the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, Hassan Nasrallah has opened the southern Lebanese front to support his Palestinian ally, but has so far tried to avoid a full-scale war with the Jewish state.
A true cult of personality among its followers
In Lebanon, this man of religion is the subject of a veritable cult of personality among his followersparticularly within the Shiite Muslim community from which he comes.
A sworn enemy of the Jewish state, he has rarely appeared in public since the war between his movement and the IDF in the summer of 2006, et his place of residence is kept secret. However, he receives visitors, including the leaders of Palestinian groups allied to his group, who publish photos of the meetings.
Journalists and personalities who meet him claim to be driven by Hezbollah in cars with thick curtains, and with reinforced security measures, to an unidentifiable location. Regularly, Hassan Nasrallah gives speeches broadcast live, to which the whole country is suspended.
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