Who is Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah - and why does he matter?

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, one of the most powerful Arab Shia figures in the Middle East, has left a lasting mark on modern Lebanon, the Arab-Israel conflict and the wider region.

Under Nasrallah, whose surname translates as "victory through God", Hezbollah has grown from a local armed movement to the largest political party in Lebanon’s recent history. 

In the 2018 parliamentary elections, Hezbollah won more than 340,000 preferential votes, the most for any party in Lebanon since independence. 

In October 2021, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah had 100,000 fighters, making it among the most powerful non-national armed organisations worldwide.

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