Hezbollah Declares War

Above: Teenager in Lebanon, ready to throw molotov cocktail

Hezbollah has taken over western Beirut.

Hezbollah is a Shi’a Islamic political militia based in Lebanon. They first emerged in the early 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War. Before the faction was formed, they were initially from Musa Sadr’s Amal Movement. According to the group’s manifesto, Hezbollah has three main goals: the eradication of Western colonialism in Lebanon, bringing to justice those who committed atrocities during the war (their main opposition being the Lebanese Kataeb Party or the Phalangists), and lastly the establishment of an Islamic government in Lebanon. The last we have seen of the group at war was during the 2006 Lebanon War between them and the Israeli army.