Hezbollah’s New Leader Naim Qassem Is No Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah is trying to keep its head down and recover its strength. As a result, Naim Qassem is providing a more muted leadership than his predecessor.
Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah’s Financial Lifeline Extends Beyond Iran’s Cash Transfers
U.S. sanctions have strained Iran’s finances and disrupted some funding channels to its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah. Yet sanctions have not eliminated the group’s access to outside funding, including...
Policy Briefs
Nasrallah is Dead. Hezbollah’s Social Lifeline is Not.
Two years after Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah is weaker but not finished. WaTaawanou, a crowdfunded charity outside Hezbollah’s formal hierarchy, exemplifies one way Hezbollah endures: outsourcing...
Op-eds
Two Years After Nasrallah’s Death, Hezbollah Is Outsourcing its Survival and Revival
Two years after Israel assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah finds itself commemorating its dead leader from a weaker position. Israel has killed thousands of Hezbollah...
Policy Briefs
Lebanon’s Pretend Peace with Israel Revives Arafat’s Playbook
What is the point of strengthening the LAF if internal dialogue is the only tool Beirut intends to use to restore state sovereignty?
Op-eds
The War Inside the War
Review of 'In The War Room' by Yonah Jeremy Bob & Elliot Kaufman
Op-eds
Hezbollah Has Lost. Now It Must Admit It
Let us, for a moment, entertain a thought experiment. What if Hezbollah had gotten its political way? Imagine that in late 2024, after Hezbollah’s resounding military defeat, Lebanon’s Parliament had...
Op-eds
Israel claims control of Ali al Taher after weeks of Hezbollah attacks and failed handover efforts
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on September 3 that its 36th Division had cleared Hezbollah personnel from two underground routes beneath south Lebanon’s Ali al Taher Ridge, the site...
Op-eds
Treasury Says Iran Controls Hezbollah. Lebanon Is Still Responsible.
Washington has potentially raised the cost of doing business with Hezbollah by formally tying the group to Iran under U.S. sanctions law. On Thursday, August 20, the Treasury Department’s Office...
Policy Briefs
Lebanon’s Inaction Is Dooming the Pilot Zones Project
Lebanon’s pilot zone experiment, established under the U.S.-brokered Trilateral Framework, has so far failed.
Op-eds
Hezbollah’s Financing Strategies: Recovering From War With Israel
Iran has spent more than four decades building Hezbollah into a force capable of making war against Israel in hopes of one day destroying the Jewish state. Israeli forces have inflicted tremendous damage on Hezbollah’s leadership, arsenal, and manpower, yet the terror group is rebuilding, thanks in no small part to its globe-spanning illicit finance network. To shed greater light on this crucial subject, FDD has invited Israeli expert Dr. Iftah Burman to provide a robust overview of the transnational web of enterprises, stretching across the Middle East — and from Latin America to West Africa and into cyberspace — that sustains Hezbollah’s aggression. This work provides information essential to intelligence and law enforcement agencies in every country, including the United States, that recognizes the severity of Hezbollah’s threat to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East.
Memos
Why Iran Sanctions Relief Wouldn’t Have Stopped Iran
As the United States and Iran trade blows again, it’s important to remember that sanctions relief would have only allowed the Islamic Republic to finance its war machine.
Op-eds
Hezbollah’s Lebanese Allies Are Ready to Dump It
Speaker Nabih Berri and Druze chief Walid Jumblatt have so far sided with Hezbollah by denouncing the June 26 Trilateral Framework between Lebanon, Israel, and the U.S.
Op-eds
Iranian ballistic missile operations: 2024–2026
Over the past two years, the Islamic Republic has engaged in at least 15 distinct ballistic missile operations from its territory against foreign targets. These attacks, starting in January 2024, ended...
Op-eds
Squeezing Al-Qard Al-Hassan Could Weaken Hezbollah’s Chances of Survival
If President Trump has his way, the Third Lebanon War, which Hezbollah began by attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, will soon end. But even as the group’s most intense fight against Israel comes to...
Policy Briefs
Deploying Syrian Troops in Lebanon Would Help, Not Hurt, Hezbollah
“I told Israel it should let Syria handle Hezbollah because, frankly, I think Syria would do a better job,” President Donald Trump said during the G7 summit in Paris. Trump’s comment was the second...
Policy Briefs
IDF confirms killing Hezbollah commander responsible for creating Iran-backed militias in Iraq
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it killed Ali Mousa Daqduq, a top Hezbollah military leader and a commander in the Radwan Unit, the group responsible for infiltrating the Israeli border....
Op-eds
Don’t Invite Syria Back Into Lebanon
Washington is contemplating the one thing that could rally Lebanese around Hezbollah.
Op-eds
UAE sanctions Hezbollah-linked financial network, reflecting US designations
On May 12, the United Arab Emirates’ official news agency, Emirates News Agency, announced that Abu Dhabi had designated 16 Lebanese nationals and five Lebanon-based entities to its terrorism...
Op-eds
The Final Lebanon War?
A security zone in southern Lebanon could help Israel degrade Hezbollah faster than it can recover.