Hezbollah did not disarm after the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, in contravention of the UN Security Council resolution 1701.[70] From 2006, the group's military strength grew significantly,[71][72] to the extent that its paramilitary wing became more powerful than the Lebanese Army.[73][74] Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state",[75] and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders.[76][77][78] The group currently receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran and political support from Syria,[79] although the sectarian nature of the Syrian war has damaged the group's legitimacy.[76][80][81] In 2021, Nasrallah said the group had 100,000 fighters.[82] Either the entire organization or only its military wing has been designated a terrorist organization by several countries, including by the European Union[83] and, since 2017, also by most member states of the Arab League, with two exceptions – Lebanon, where Hezbollah is one of the country's most influential political parties, and Iraq.[84]Russia does not view Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization" but as a "legitimate socio-political force".[85]
^Levitt, Matthew (2013). Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. Hurst Publishers. p. 356. ISBN978-1-84904-333-5. 'Hezbollah's anti-Western militancy began with attacks against Western targets in Lebanon, then expanded to attacks abroad intended to exact revenge for actions threatening its or Iran's interests, or to press foreign governments to release captured operatives.'
^Siegel, Larry J. (2012). Criminology: Theories, Patterns & Typology. Cengage Learning. p. 396. ISBN978-1-133-04964-7. Hezbollah is anti-West and anti-Israel and has engaged in a series of terrorist actions including kidnappings, car bombings, and airline hijackings.
^Pardo, Ramon Pacheco (February 2011). "Beyond Iran"(PDF). The Majalla. 1561: 12–14. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
^Barnard, Anne (9 July 2013). "Car Bombing Injures Dozens in Hezbollah Section of Beirut". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2013. Hezbollah has portrayed the Syrian uprising as an Israeli-backed plot to destroy its alliance with Mr. Assad against Israel.
^Barnard, Anne (20 May 2013). "Hezbollah's Role in Syria War Shakes the Lebanese". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2013. Hezbollah, stronger than the Lebanese Army, has the power to drag the country into war without a government decision, as in 2006, when it set off the war by capturing two Israeli soldiers
^ abHubbard, Ben (20 March 2014). "Syrian Fighting Gives Hezbollah New but Diffuse Purpose". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... the fighting has also diluted the resources that used to go exclusively to facing Israel, exacerbated sectarian divisions in the region, and alienated large segments of the majority Sunni population who once embraced Hezbollah as a liberation force... Never before have Hezbollah guerrillas fought alongside a formal army, waged war outside Lebanon or initiated broad offensives aimed at seizing territory.
^Deeb, Lara (31 July 2006). "Hizballah: A Primer". Middle East Report. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
^Goldman, Adam (28 May 2014). "Hezbollah operative wanted by FBI dies in fighting in Syria". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... Hasan Nasrallah has called the deployment of his fighters to Syria a 'new phase' for the movement, and it marks the first time the group has sent significant numbers of men outside Lebanon's borders.
^Filkins, Dexter (30 September 2013). "The Shadow Commander". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 October 2013. From 2000 to 2006, Iran contributed a hundred million dollars a year to Hezbollah. Its fighters are attractive proxies: unlike the Iranians, they speak Arabic, making them better equipped to operate in Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world.
^"Hezbollah's Syrian Quagmires"(PDF). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014. By siding with the Assad regime, the regime's Alawite supporters, and Iran, and taking up arms against Sunni rebels, Hezbollah has placed itself at the epicenter of a sectarian conflict that has nothing to do with the group's purported raison d'être: 'resistance' to Israeli occupation.
^Kershner, Isabel (10 March 2014). "Israel Watches Warily as Hezbollah Gains Battle Skills in Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... the Lebanese group's image at home and in the broader Arab world has been severely damaged because it is fighting Sunni rebels in Syria while its legitimacy rested on its role in fighting Israel.