Hezbollah, or Party of God, was founded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
The Shiite group adhered to the teachings of the late Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who vowed holy war against Israel and its Western allies.
Funded and armed by Tehran, the group began a war to evict Israeli forces from Lebanon. Shadowy groups linked to Hezbollah launched suicide attacks on Western targets and took Westerners hostage in Beirut. The most spectacular attack was a suicide bombing that destroyed the US Marine headquarters in Beirut in October 1983, killing 241 servicemen.
Hezbollah announced its political programme in 1985, aimed at establishing an
Iranian-style republic in Lebanon. It fought rival Lebanese groups until the civil war ended in 1990 and kept up attacks on Israeli forces.
An Israeli helicopter strike killed Hezbollah chief Shaikh Abbas Al Musawi in February 1992, sparking a wave of sympathy with the group among many Lebanese. Al Musawi had set up a welfare arm caring for the long-deprived Shiite community. Current Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah replaced him. The group entered parliament in 1992 in the first general election after the war, effectively abandoning its goal of setting up an Islamic state.
Hezbollah withstood large-scale Israeli bombing campaigns in 1993 and 1996.
Israel ended its 22-year occupation in Lebanon and pulled out in May 2000. Lebanese from various sects and political affiliations hailed Hezbollah as liberation heroes. The group vowed to keep fighting as long as Israel remained in the disputed Shebaa Farms border area. It also declared support for a Palestinian uprising against Israel. Hezbollah has since launched sporadic attacks in the Shebaa Farms.
Hezbollah and Israel exchanged prisoners in January 2004.
Israel swapped more than 400 Palestinians and Lebanese for a captive Israeli businessman and the remains of three soldiers.
UN Security Council Resolution 1559, sponsored by the United States and France and adopted in September 2004, called for all Lebanese rebel forces to be disbanded and disarmed. Hezbollah has defied the resolution.
