Who is Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah?

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the person of Lebanon's militant Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement, is 1 of the champion known and astir influential figures successful the Middle East.

Nasrallah - who was reportedly the people of Friday's aerial onslaught connected Beirut - has not been seen successful pubic for years due to the fact that of fears of being assassinated by Israel.

A shadowy fig with adjacent idiosyncratic links to Iran, helium played a cardinal relation successful turning Hezbollah into the governmental and subject unit it is contiguous - and remains revered by the group's supporters.

Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah has helped bid fighters from the Palestinian equipped radical Hamas arsenic good arsenic militias successful Iraq and Yemen, and obtained missiles and rockets from Iran for usage against Israel.

He steered Hezbollah's improvement from a militia founded to combat Israeli troops occupying Lebanon into a subject unit stronger than the Lebanese army, a powerbroker successful Lebanese politics, a large supplier of health, acquisition and societal services, and a cardinal portion of its backer Iran's thrust for determination supremacy.

Born successful 1960, Hassan Nasrallah grew up successful Beirut's eastbound Bourj Hammoud neighbourhood, wherever his begetter Abdul Karim ran a tiny greengrocers. He was the eldest of 9 children.

He joined the Amal movement, past a Shia militia, aft Lebanon descended into civilian warfare successful 1975. After a abbreviated spell successful the Iraqi beatified metropolis of Najaf to be a Shia seminary helium rejoined Amal successful Lebanon earlier helium and others divided from the radical successful 1982, soon aft Israel invaded Lebanon successful effect to attacks by Palestinian militants.

The caller group, Islamic Amal, received sizeable subject and organisational enactment from Iran's Revolutionary Guards based successful the Bekaa Valley, and emerged arsenic the astir salient and effectual of the Shia militias that would aboriginal signifier Hezbollah.

In 1985, Hezbollah officially announced its constitution by publishing an "open letter" that identified the US and the Soviet Union arsenic Islam's main enemies and called for the "obliteration" of Israel, which it said was occupying Muslim lands.

Nasrallah worked his mode up done Hezbollah's ranks arsenic the organisation grew. He said that aft serving arsenic a combatant helium became its manager successful Baalbek, past the full Bekaa region, followed by Beirut.

He became person of Hezbollah successful 1992 astatine the property of 32, aft his predecessor Abbas al-Musawi was assassinated successful an Israeli chopper strike.

One of his archetypal actions was to retaliate to the sidesplitting of Musawi. He ordered rocket attacks into bluish Israel that killed a girl, an Israeli information serviceman astatine the Israeli embassy successful Turkey was killed by a car weaponry and a termination bomber struck the Israeli embassy successful Buenos Aires, Argentina, sidesplitting 29 people.

Nasrallah besides managed a low-intensity warfare with Israeli forces that ended with their withdrawal from confederate Lebanon successful 2000, though helium suffered a idiosyncratic nonaccomplishment erstwhile his eldest lad Hadi was killed successful a firefight with Israeli troops.

Following the withdrawal Nasrallah proclaimed that Hezbollah had achieved the archetypal Arab triumph against Israel. He besides vowed that Hezbollah would not disarm, saying that it considered that "all Lebanese territory indispensable beryllium restored", including the Shebaa Farms area.

There was comparative calm until 2006, erstwhile Hezbollah militants launched a cross-border onslaught successful which 8 Israeli soldiers were killed and 2 others kidnapped, triggering a monolithic Israeli response.

Israeli warplanes bombed Hezbollah strongholds successful the South and successful Beirut's confederate suburbs, portion Hezbollah fired astir 4,000 rockets astatine Israel. More than 1,125 Lebanese, astir of them civilians, died during the 34-day conflict, arsenic good arsenic 119 Israeli soldiers and 45 civilians.

Nasrallah's location and offices were targeted by Israel warplanes, but helium survived unscathed.

In 2009, Nasrallah issued a caller governmental manifesto that sought to item Hezbollah's "political vision". It dropped the notation to an Islamic republic recovered successful the 1985 document, but maintained a pugnacious enactment against Israel and the US and reiterated that Hezbollah needed to support its weapons contempt a UN solution banning them successful confederate Lebanon.

"People evolve. The full satellite changed implicit the past 24 years. Lebanon changed. The satellite bid changed," Nasrallah said.

Four years later, Nasrallah declared that Hezbollah was entering "a wholly caller phase" of its beingness by sending of fighters into Syria to assistance its Iran-backed ally, President Bashar al-Assad, enactment down a rebellion. "It is our battle, and we are up to it," helium said.

Lebanese Sunni leaders accused Hezbollah of dragging the state into Syria's warfare and sectarian tensions worsened dramatically.

In 2019, a heavy economical situation successful Lebanon triggered wide protests against a governmental elite agelong accused of corruption, waste, mismanagement and negligence. Nasrallah initially expressed sympathy with the calls for reforms, but his cognition changed arsenic the protesters began demanding for a implicit overhaul of the governmental system.

On 8 October 2023 - the time aft the unprecedented onslaught connected Israel by Hamas gunmen that triggered the warfare successful Gaza - antecedently sporadic warring betwixt Hezbollah and Israel escalated.

Hezbollah fired astatine Israeli positions, successful solidarity with the Palestinians.

In a code successful November, Nasrallah said the Hamas onslaught had been "100 percent Palestinian successful presumption of some determination and execution" but that the firing betwixt his radical and Israel was "very important and significant".

The radical launched much than 8,000 rockets astatine bluish Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It besides fired anti-tank missiles astatine armoured vehicles and attacked subject targets with explosive drones.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) retaliated with aerial strikes and vessel and artillery occurrence against Hezbollah positions successful Lebanon.

In his astir caller speech, Nasrallah blamed Israel for detonating thousands of pagers and vigor handsets utilized by Hezbollah members, which killed 39 radical and wounded thousands more, and said it had "crossed each reddish lines". He acknowledged the radical had suffered an "unprecedented blow".

Shortly afterwards Israel dramatically escalated attacks connected Hezbollah, launching waves of bombing that killed astir 800 people.