Title:
HEZBOLLAHS MOTIVES, STRENGTH, SIZE, TACTICS, TARGETS, AND PROSPECTS FOR SUCCESS IN MEETING ITS DECLARED GOALS

Authors:
Dr. Omar Khalfan

Abstract:
Hezbollah was conceived in 1982 by a group of Muslim clerics after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, with the help of Islamic Republic of Iran. And within several years, it compelled Israel to withdraw from most of Lebanon (except the ‘‘security zone’’ it occupied until 2000). It is a designated terrorist group by the U.S Department of State. With regard to Hezbollah’s military strength and size, many scholars have confirmed that it is hard if not impossible to get official confirmed figures from Hezbollah. The researcher of this paper would like to show that the organization [Hezbollah] acts as a proxy for Iran in the continuing Iranian-Israeli conflict, but also it does help to serve the Iranian interest in the Middle East region. Hezbollah’s future depends not only on its main funder, the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also its prospect for success relies on its own internal, financial, organizational and administrative governance and it gained a huge experience from its previous military training with Palestinian organizations