Synopsis "Attacking Hezbollah's Financial Network: Policy Options (in English)"
Hezbollah is a terrorist group that is based in Lebanon, where it is also a significant political force. It dates back to 1982 when members of Tehran's Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force first deployed in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. They created, armed, and funded a small force which became Hezbollah. Today, as the leading Iranian proxy, Hezbollah continues to be Iran's front line against Israel. Since its 2006 war with Israel, Hezbollah has dramatically grown its supply of rockets and missiles, allowing it to strike throughout Israel, with much greater precision and force. In cty of Haifa in 2006, Hezbollah fired 10,000 rockets out of an inventory of about 20,000. There were 600 victims from Haifa in the trauma hospital who were being treated as a result of the attacks on civilian neighborhoods. It is 11 years since that period of time, and now, instead of 10,000 rockets and missiles remaining in the inventory, there are 110,000, and they are of increasing sophistication. One observer has written that Hezbollah is now, "more militarily powerful than most North Atlantic treaty organization members." Hezbollah is putting its military power to very effective use. In Syria, its fighters are key to the efforts by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Moscow's efforts to prop up the Assad regime, along with Russian troops and Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
