Hezbollah armed strength

Hezbollah has the armed strength of a medium sized army.^[1] Hezbollah is the most powerful non-state actor in the world^[2][3] and is stronger than the Lebanese Army.^[4][5][6][7] The fighting strength of Hezbollah has increased substantially since 2006.^[1][8]

Hezbollah's military strength is based somewhat on the quantity and quality of the rockets they possess,^[9] which they use against their primary antagonist, Israel. Estimates of Hezbollah's total missile count range from 120,000 to 150,000,^[10][11][12] which is more than most countries.^[13][14] The majority of these are mortars and short range rockets, but thousands are medium-range and hundreds are long-range.^[1]

Hezbollah has limited amounts of anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, as well thousands of anti-tank missiles, which they are skilled at using.^[15] The group does not have any aircraft, tanks,^[1] or armored vehicles in Lebanon, instead relying upon technicals.^[16][17] However, Hezbollah has armor in neighboring Syria, including T-55 and T-72 tanks.^[18][19][20] The group has built a large number of weapons caches, tunnels, and bunkers.^[21]

In 2016, Hezbollah had 45,000 fighters, with 21,000 of them in regular service.^[1][10] They are financed by Iran and trained by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.^[2] Up to 8,000 Hezbollah soldiers have been deployed to Syria,^[22] which weakens Hezbollah somewhat in the short term, but may strengthen the group in the long term.^[9] In 2016, Hezbollah's military budget was around one billion dollars.^[10][23]

Hezbollah's fighting style against Israel is considered guerrilla warfare, aimed at causing attrition through short attacks and avoiding decisive battles. Though individual Hezbollah squads are comparable to Israeli squads,^[9][21] Hezbollah as a whole is "quantitatively and qualitatively" weaker than the Israel Defense Forces.^[21]

Hezbollah's armed strength is challenging to measure because the group maintains high levels of secrecy^[24] and because the United States, Israel, and Hezbollah itself have reasons to misstate the group's strength.^[9]

Training

Hezbollah's guerrilla forces were reckoned in 2006 "to be amongst the most dedicated, motivated and highly trained" in the world.^[2] Voice of America reports that "Hezbollah fighters have been schooled from a young age to submit to strict military discipline and are nurtured in a culture of martyrdom, believing that God sanctions their struggles", adding that, "their military and ideological training is rigorous."^[25]

Iran provides training and funding to Hezbollah, and Syria has permitted Iran to use Damascus as a waypoint to supply the group.^[26]

Weapons

Small arms

Anti-tank

^{[15][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]}

Hezbollah has also received many unreported weapons shipments from Iran and Syria.^[29]

Air defense

^{[29][34][35][36][37][38]}

Rockets

^{[39][40][39][41]}

Hezbollah possesses the Zelzal-2 which has a range of 100 km.^[42] The Iranian-manufactured missile could reach Tel Aviv from Lebanon. The missile can be fitted with a 600 kg high-explosive warhead and has a solid fuel system that allows it to be easily transported and prepared for firing. Although these are unguided missiles, they could cause serious damages if launched towards urban areas.

Armored vehicles

In 2015 or 2016, Hezbollah was given 75 T-55 and T-72 tanks by Syria to use in the country, as well as other armored vehicles.^[18][19][20] Hezbollah has also operated T-54 and T-55 tanks on behalf of the SAA.^[23] Hezbollah captured unspecified armored vehicles from Israel following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.^[43] Hezbollah also captured additional materiel from the South Lebanon Army.

Anti-ship

On 14 July 2006, Hezbollah forces fired a C-802 anti-ship missile at the Israeli corvette INS Hanit, killing four sailors and inflicting substantial damage. A second missile sunk a Cambodian vessel crewed by Egyptian sailors, although no deaths were reported.^[45] The Israeli military believes that Iranian advisers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were present at the launch during the attack.^[46] Iran denied involvement in the incident.^[47]

Unmanned aerial vehicles

Iran has supplied Hezbollah with Mohajer-4 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).^[45] These flew successfully into Israeli airspace in November 2004 and April 2005.

2006 Lebanon War

Map showing some of the Israeli localities attacked by rockets fired from Lebanese soil.

During the 2006 Lebanon War Hezbollah fired about 3,699 rockets into Israel, killing 118 soldiers and 44 civilians.^[48]

On August 6, 2006 (one week before the end of the conflict) Israeli officials believed that its operation destroyed the vast majority of Hezbollah's longer-range rockets and about a third of the shorter range rockets, such as Katyushas. The group did, however, still have many short-range rockets which are smaller and easier to hide or store underground, and can be set up and fired in a few minutes.^[46][49]

On August 13, 2006, the day before the negotiated ceasefire was to come into effect, Hezbollah launched its fiercest barrage, firing 250 rockets into Israel.

References