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Special report

Hezbollah: the armed state within the state — history, record and a plan to end it

An armed group outside the state has shaped Lebanon's wars, politics and economy for more than forty years. This report sets out what is documented, and how Lebanon can end it by lawful means.

Analysis by Lebanese Lobby, 18 October 2026. Figures are attributed to their sources; where sources disagree we say so. Hezbollah denies the terrorism label and calls itself a resistance movement; the facts below are drawn from court rulings, UN texts and reporting.

In brief

  • What it is: founded in 1982 with Iranian backing; a Lebanese political party and parliamentary bloc and the best-armed force in the country, outside state control.
  • The record: courts and governments have tied it to the 1983 Beirut bombings, the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, and the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
  • The law is clear: Taif (1989) and UN resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701 all require every militia to disarm. Lebanon's cabinet adopted an army plan to do it on 5 September 2025.
  • The goal: a Lebanon where only the army and the security forces hold weapons — achieved by the state, with the support of the Lebanese, through law, finance, the army and politics. Not by punishing a community.

1. History in brief

  1. 1982 Formed by Lebanese Shiite clerics with Iranian support, during the civil war and Israel's invasion of Lebanon (Wikipedia: Hezbollah).
  2. 1983 A suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Beirut in April killed more than 60 people, 17 of them Americans; in October a truck bomb killed 241 US servicemen at the multinational force barracks. Hezbollah is widely held responsible (ADL; Wikipedia).
  3. 1989 The Taif Agreement ends the civil war and requires all militias to hand over their weapons. Hezbollah is allowed to keep its arms as a "resistance" against the Israeli occupation.
  4. 1992 and 1994 Bombings of the Israeli embassy (29 dead) and the AMIA Jewish centre (85 dead) in Buenos Aires. In April 2024 Argentina's highest criminal court ruled that Iran directed the AMIA attack and Hezbollah carried it out.
  5. 2000 Israel withdraws from south Lebanon. The reason for keeping weapons ends, but they are kept.
  6. 2004 UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calls for the disbanding and disarming of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias. It is not implemented.
  7. 2005 Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others are killed. In August 2020 the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon convicted Hezbollah member Salim Ayyash in absentia and sentenced him to life; three co-accused were acquitted. The judge did not find evidence tying Hezbollah's leadership to the attack, but said Hezbollah's shielding of Ayyash allowed a "strong inference". He has never been handed over.
  8. 2006 A month-long war with Israel. Resolution 1701 bars armed forces other than the Lebanese army and UNIFIL south of the Litani and demands implementation of Taif and of 1559 and 1680. Hezbollah's arsenal grows in the years afterwards.
  9. 2008 Hezbollah fighters take over parts of Beirut after the government moves against its private communications network.
  10. 2012 onward Hezbollah fights in Syria in support of the Assad government, dragging Lebanon into a regional war.
  11. 2023–24 Hezbollah opens a front against Israel in October 2023. In September 2024 Israel detonates thousands of pagers (Lebanon's health ministry counted 37 dead and about 3,000 wounded) and kills Hassan Nasrallah on 27 September. Lebanese authorities later put the war's toll at more than 3,000 dead and over a million displaced. A US and French brokered ceasefire starts on 27 November 2024: Hezbollah is to withdraw north of the Litani and Israel to withdraw.
  12. 2025–26 A new president (Joseph Aoun) and government (Nawaf Salam). On 5 September 2025 the cabinet adopts the army's plan to bring all weapons under state control. On 8 January 2026 the army announces phase one complete: operational control south of the Litani, except five Israeli-held positions. In February 2026 the government says phase two, north of the Litani, needs at least four months. Hezbollah rejects giving up its arms north of the Litani, and says Lebanon owes nothing until Israel withdraws and stops its strikes. Israel says it will stay until Hezbollah is disarmed.

2. How the world classifies it

Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organisation, in whole or in part, by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Honduras, Israel, the European Union (its military wing, since 2013) and the Gulf Cooperation Council, among others. Designations differ by country and change; check official sources before relying on one. Lebanon does not designate it, and Hezbollah holds seats in parliament and in cabinets.

The community is not the organisation. Most Lebanese Shiites are not Hezbollah fighters, and many have paid the highest price in its wars. This report never assigns blame to a religion, sect or community.

3. Money and supply

  • Iran is Hezbollah's main backer. US officials have put Iran's share at about 70% of a budget of roughly $1 billion a year; a US Treasury report cited by researchers says the Revolutionary Guards moved more than $1 billion to the group in ten months of 2025. Treat these as estimates.
  • Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a financial institution sanctioned by the US, is described by Treasury as moving funds for Hezbollah through front accounts and intermediaries. In July 2025 Lebanon's central bank barred banks from dealing with it, naming it for the first time. The US and Gulf partners have imposed further joint sanctions on Hezbollah finance networks, and Treasury sanctioned seven of its executives in July 2025.
  • Cash and smuggling through the airport, the port and the Syrian border remain the main gaps.

4. The plan: ending the armed state within the state

The aim is to end the armed organisation's ability to act outside the law — not to harm anyone. It must be led by Lebanon's own institutions, in steps that the army can carry and the country can absorb.

Step 1 — Put the law behind the decision

  • Turn the 5 September 2025 cabinet decision and Taif into binding law: possession of heavy or military weapons outside the state is a crime, with the same penalty for everyone, of every party.
  • Instruct the judiciary and prosecutors to treat weapons smuggling, illegal depots and attacks on the army as ordinary crimes, and to act on the Special Tribunal's arrest warrant for Salim Ayyash.
  • Declare that decisions on war and peace belong only to the state.

Step 2 — A stronger Lebanese army

  • Fund and equip the army and the internal security forces (US, France, EU, Gulf support), raise soldiers' pay, and recruit widely so that every region and community is represented.
  • Continue the phased plan: south of the Litani (done in January 2026) → north of the Litani → the Bekaa and Beirut's southern suburbs → heavy weapons, rockets and drones. Publish progress openly every month.
  • Verify with UNIFIL, the Mechanism committee and satellite imagery; weapons handed over are stored or destroyed under the army's control.

Step 3 — Cut the money and the supply

  • Enforce the central bank ban on Al-Qard Al-Hassan and on cash-based money changers linked to it; require full compliance for banks, exchange houses and gold dealers.
  • Put the airport, the port and every border crossing under the army, customs and internal security, with scanners and rotating, vetted officers.
  • Cooperate with US, EU and Gulf sanctions and share evidence of Iranian funding and smuggling.

Step 4 — A future for the fighters and for the south

  • Offer fighters who hand in arms a way back: places in the army and security forces after vetting, jobs and training, and amnesty for those without blood on their hands.
  • Rebuild the south and the southern suburbs through the state's reconstruction fund, linked to progress on disarmament, so that the state is seen to provide what the movement provided.
  • Protect the dignity of the Shiite community: schools, clinics and services run by the state or by independent charities, and a real place for Shiite voices in a sovereign Lebanon.

Step 5 — Politics and the region

  • Agree a mechanism where Israeli withdrawal and an end to strikes are matched step by step with Lebanese disarmament, so that neither side can use the other as an excuse. Hezbollah says it will not disarm while Israel occupies Lebanese land; Israel says it will not leave until Hezbollah is disarmed. Both statements must be answered together.
  • Keep Lebanon out of regional wars: no use of Lebanese land for attacks on other states.
  • Use elections to build a majority for sovereignty, and bring in the parties, churches, mosques and unions behind one national position.

The risks

  • Civil strife and army cohesion: the plan must never put soldiers in a position of firing on fellow citizens; it relies on law, consent and the pressure of a Lebanon that wants to rebuild.
  • Israeli strikes and occupation, which Hezbollah uses to justify keeping arms.
  • Iranian rearmament through smuggling, and political obstruction inside government.

5. What to watch

  • Army reports on phases two and three, and the verified count of weapons collected.
  • Border and airport seizures; the closure of Al-Qard Al-Hassan branches.
  • Any parliamentary vote or court action tied to the decision of 5 September 2025.
  • The talks on Israeli withdrawal and a permanent arrangement for the south; the latest reporting says they have been stalled since August, with a new round expected.

Our newsroom follows each of these with verified, sourced reports.