What is Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group that could go to all-out war against Israel?

After more than eight months of low-scale conflict, Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are threatening all-out war.
United States and international community are lobbying for calm and hopeful for a diplomatic solution. y have not been successful so far and time for a political settlement could be expiring.

Should war break out, Israel would face a much more formidable foe in Lebanon than it faced in Hamas in Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah leer Hassan Nasrallahwarned Israel last week that his group has new weapons and capabilities, and it has published surveillance drone footage taken deep inside norrn Israel that showed port of Haifa and or sites far from Lebanon-Israel border.

A look at how Hezbollah became what many call strongest non-state force in region.

What is Hezbollah?

Founded in 1982 during Lebanon's civil war, Hezbollah's initial objective was ending Israel's occupation of sourn Lebanon. It achieved that in 2000.
Shiite Muslim Hezbollah is part of a collection of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as Axis of Resistance. It was first group that Iran backed and used as a way to export its brand of political Islamism.
In its early days group attacked U.S. targets, causing Washington to designate it a terrorist organization.

"Iran's support has helped Hezbollah consolidate its position as Lebanon's most powerful political actor as well as most-equipped military actor supported by Iran in whole of Middle East," said Lina Khatib, director of SOAS Middle East Institute in London.
Hezbollah fighters ambushed an Israeli patrol in 2006 and took two Israeli soldiers hostage. Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war that ended in a draw but Israeli bombardment wreaked widespre destruction in sourn Lebanon.

Israel's objective was eliminating Hezbollah but Lebanese group came out stronger and became a key military and political power on Israel's norrn border.
Domestic opponents have criticized Hezbollah for maintaining its arsenal and for coming to dominate government. Hezbollah's reputation also suffered when it briefly seized a section of Beirut in May 2008 after Lebanese government took measures against its private telecommunications network.

Hezbollah's military capabilities have also surged, and it has played a key role in Syrian civil war, keeping President Bashar al-Ass in power. And it has helped train Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq, as well as Yemen's Houthi rebels.
What are Hezbollah's military capabilities?Throughout its latest conflict with Israel, Hezbollah has grually introduced new weapons to its arsenal, especially after Israel began its ground invasion of sourn city of Rafah in Gaza in early May.

While Hezbollah initially began launching Cornet anti-tank missiles and salvos of Katyusha rockets, it later started using rockets with heavy warhes, and eventually introduced explosive drones and surface-to-air missiles for first time. Nasrallah said drones are locally manufactured, with many at ir disposal.

group notably released two videos of footage from drones over Haifa and or sites in norrn Israel, showing critical civilian and military infrastructure in a move intended to showcase new access and capabilities and deter Israeli attack.
In a televised dress last week, Nasrallah said that group will continue resorting to this tactic.
"We now have new weapons. But I won't say what y are," he said. "When decision is me, y will be seen on front lines."

How does Hezbollah compare to or Iranian-backed groups?

Hezbollah is Arab world's most significant paramilitary force with a robust internal structure as well as a sizeable arsenal. Israel sees it as its most direct threat, and estimates that it has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles.
In recent years, Hezbollah sent forces to Syria to help fellow Iranian ally President Bashar Ass against armed opposition groups. It also supported growth of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

Khatib of SOAS Middle East Institute in London likened Hezbollah to a "big bror" of fledgling Iranian-backed groups that "do not enjoy same level of infrastructure or discipline."

Hezbollah is bound to Iran by doctrine. However, its relationship with Hamas, an offshoot of Sunni Muslim Brorhood movement, is based on pragmatism.
In recent years, some Hamas officials, including its former second-in-command, Saleh al-Arouri, have since moved to Lebanon, where y have Hezbollah's protection and a presence across Lebanon's multiple Palestinian refugee camps. Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike in a sourn Beirut suburb in January.

Who Is Hassan Nasrallah?

Born in 1960 into a poor Shiite family in Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud and later displaced to south Lebanon, Nasrallah studied ology and joined Amal movement, a Shiite political and paramilitary organization, before becoming one of Hezbollah's founders.
He became Hezbollah's leer in 1992 after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike.

Idolized by many for presiding over Israel's withdrawal from south and leing 2006 war, his image appears on billboards and on ggets in souvenir shops in Lebanon, Syria and or countries across Arab world. But he also faces opposition among Lebanese who accuse him of tying ir country's fate to Iran.

Nasrallah is also considered to be pragmatic, able to make political compromises.
He has lived in hiding for years, fearing Israeli assassination, and delivers his speeches from undisclosed locations.