who was Hassan Nasrallah, the emblematic leader of Hezbollah killed by Israel?

This 64-year-old Shiite cleric, the object of a true cult among his faithful, spent part of his life in hiding.

Hassan Nasrallah is dead. The emblematic leader of Lebanese Hezbollah did not manage to escape the bombings of the Israeli army which targeted the headquarters of the Islamist movement, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday September 27. Hezbollah has confirmed the death of its leader, an event that has observers fearing destabilization of the entire Middle East. A look back at the journey of the historic leader of Hezbollah, who lived in hiding for many years, while remaining one of the most powerful figures in the region.

Hassan Nasrallah was born on August 31, 1960 into a modest family of nine children, in the old “belt of misery” which surrounded Beirut. His family comes from the village of Bazouriyé, in the south of the country. As a teenager, he studied theology in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, Iraq, but had to leave during the wave of anti-Shiite repression by then-president Saddam Hussein. Returning to Lebanon, he became involved in the Shiite Amal movement, but seceded during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the summer of 1982 to become part of the founding core of Hezbollah, created under the leadership of the Guardians of the Iranian revolution.

Married with five children, Hassan Nasrallah spoke Farsi fluently, the majority language in Iran. He wore the black turban of the Sayyid, the descendants of the prophet Mohammed to whom he claims. He led Hezbollah from 1992, after the assassination by Israel of his predecessor, Abbas Moussaoui, and gradually became one of the most powerful men in the country, deciding on war or peace on the territory. This charismatic leader developed over the years a reserve of 100,000 fighters, according to him, and built up a veritable arsenal, including high-precision missiles.

Israel’s sworn enemy, Hezbollah remains the only Lebanese formation to have retained its weapons at the end of the Lebanese War (1975-1990), in the name of “resistance against Israel”. Throughout the clashes, Hassan Nasrallah consolidated his stature, notably with the death in combat in 1997 of his eldest son, Hadi. “We, Hezbollah leadership, do not jealously guard our children”he says in a speech the day after the death of his son, recalls the Lebanese daily The Orient-The Day.

The summer 2006 war with Israel, which lasted 33 days, allowed him to display the power of his movement, his fighters standing up to the Israeli army. The conflict caused the deaths of 1,200 Lebanese residents, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Hassan Nasrallah proclaims, at the end of this war, a “divine victory”which reinforces his heroic aura in the Arab world.

He became the object of a veritable cult of personality among his followers in Lebanon. At the same time, he is patiently developing Hezbollah, armed and financed by Iran, into an essential political force. The “Party of God” is considered a true “State within a State” in Lebanon. He is part of the government and Parliament, where neither his camp nor his opponents have an absolute majority, preventing the election of a President of the Republic for almost two years. His growing popularity and influence within the Shiite community is supported by a vast network of schools, hospitals and associations serving his supporters.

On the other hand, he alienated several camps in Lebanon, notably when his party was accused of being involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, then when his armed men briefly took control of the capital. in May 2008. The United States placed Hezbollah on its list of “terrorist” organizations in 1997, subject to economic and banking sanctions. They blame him in particular for the attack which left more than 200 dead in 1983 among American Marines in Beirut. Since 2013, the European Union has also considered the armed wing of the Shiite movement as an organization terrorist.

For these reasons, the 64-year-old Shiite cleric is forced to maintain the greatest discretion. He rarely appears in public and his whereabouts are kept secret. He sometimes receives visitors, but the journalists and personalities who met him say they were driven by Hezbollah in cars with thick curtains, to an unidentifiable location. “Security measures mean my movements must remain secret, but that doesn’t completely stop me from moving and seeing what’s going on around me”he explained in a 2014 interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar relayed by Young Africa.

“The only problem is that the others can’t see me.”

Hassan Nasrallah

to the newspaper “Al-Akhbar”

The leader of Hezbollah changes residence regularly. “Moving elsewhere is part of my life and it has become natural, especially since 2006”he explains. “For security reasons, I have to stay away from anything related to cell phones and the Internet”he adds, well before the series of walkie-talkie and pager explosions which affected members of Hezbollah in mid-September, which his movement attributes to Israel. In this same interview, Hassan Nasrallah recounts that he played football in his youth, and confides his admiration for the Argentinian legend Maradona.

His clandestine status does not prevent him from regularly giving speeches broadcast live on television, which attract the attention of the entire country. Throughout his interventions, he increased his influence throughout the Middle East. Enjoying the total trust of Iranian leaders, he trains and supports movements close to Tehran in the region. Since the start of the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, Hassan Nasrallah had opened the southern Lebanese front to support his Palestinian ally. But until now, according to observers, he was trying to avoid a full-scale war with Israel.