Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was the third Secretary-General of Lebanon's Hezbollah who was assassinated by the Israeli regime during the bombardment of the southern part of Beirut on Friday, September 27, 2024; but who is the leader?
Share It :
His mother's name was Mahdiyya Safi al-Din and his father was al-Sayyid 'Abd al-Karim. He used to work in his father's store, selling vegetables to make a remuneration.
Nasrallah studied elementary and high school in his hometown, while he studied secondary school in Beirut. In 1987, he moved to Najaf, Iraq, to study in the seminary schools.
Meanwhile, Nasrallah was involved in political activities from a young age. When he returned from Najaf in 1979, he became a member of the political office of the Amal Movement. He was also the representative of this political party in Biqa' Valley.
After Najaf, he continued his seminary studies in Baalbek. In 1989 he migrated to Qom for further seminary education and after a while returned to Lebanon as Hezbollah needed him to be formed.
In 1982 along with a group of clergymen, Nasrallah left Amal and they founded Hezbollah.
He was mainly involved in the political activities of the Hezbollah party from 1982 to 1992.
In his meeting with the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in 1981, Imam Khomeini appointed Nasrallah, 21, as his representative in Lebanon; he was the first of Hezbollah's leaders who received such a directive from Imam Khomeini.
Leadership of Hezbollah, Anti-Israeli Campaigns
Nasrallah became Hezbollah's Secretary-General on February 16, 1992, following the assassination of his predecessor Abbas al-Musawi in an Israeli airstrike.
From the beginning of his leadership in Hezbollah, Sayyed Nasrallah took a strong stance against the Israeli regime such that one year after his leadership, 26 Israeli troops were killed.
The early days of his leadership were a time when the Israeli regime had occupied the southern part of Lebanon.
Hezbollah's war to push Israel back from southern Lebanon continued. The number of Israeli forces killed in 1997 reached 40. Israel was forced to leave Lebanon in 2000 as the conditions became difficult after a 22-year occupation.
Nasrallah lost his son as he was martyred in the push-back campaign. The victory, mingled with the martyrdom, enhanced Sayyed Nasrallah's popularity in Lebanon.
Yet, the string of victories went on, as the Lebanese leader played a key role in negotiating a major prisoner exchange with Israel in 2004, leading to the release of hundreds of Lebanese and Arab prisoners.
The popularity added further, especially after Hezbollah's later confrontation with Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War, which is known as the 33-day war.
His strong commitment to the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli occupation, and retaliating against the Israeli attacks, particularly in defense of Palestinians, shored up Nasrallah's popularity across the Arab and Islamic worlds.
Nasrallah firmly supported Palestine in the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7, 2023, launched by Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in response to Israel's nearly 8 decades of occupying Palestine.
Now in the threshold of the operation's first anniversary, the Israeli regime that failed to reach none of its claimed goals in the war on Gaza, assassinated the Leader of the Resistance in Lebanon.
"We will finish this path, if we are all killed, if we all become martyrs, if our houses are destroyed on our heads, we will never give up the option of resistance," Nasrallah said in his last speech.
