Dead by Israeli fire is the head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, who was “eliminated” – as they announced – by the Israeli forces after the blow they inflicted on the headquarters of the organization in Beirut.

THE Hassan Nasrallah was born on August 31, 1960 in a poor family with nine children. His family comes from the village Bazourierin southern Lebanon. In his teens, he studied theology in the holy city for the Shiites Najaf of Iraq but was forced to leave after the wave of persecution against the Shiite community unleashed by the then president of Iraq Saddam Hussein.

Returning to Lebanon he joined the Shiite movement Amal but left when Israel invaded Lebanon in the summer of 1982, to join the newly formed Hezbollah.

THE Nasrallah he was married with five children and spoke Farsi fluently.

He always wore their black turban Sayedof the descendants of the prophet Muhammad, from whom he claimed to be descended while for years he lived “hidden”, to escape an Israeli blow.

A sworn enemy of Israel, he rarely appeared in public after the 2006 war and his whereabouts were a closely guarded secret.

Journalists and others who met him say they were driven somewhere by Hezbollah members, in cars that had thick curtains and heavy security.

However, he did receive visitors, such as the leaders of Palestinian organizations working with Hezbollah, and released photos with them.

Nasrallah regularly gave speeches that were broadcast live on television and watched by the entire country.

He was considered the most powerful man in Lebanon, deciding on peace or war as the head of a heavily armed organization.

The man who made Hezbollah a political force and a mighty army

Nasrallah, 64, assumed leadership of Hezbollah in 1992, succeeding Abbas Moussaoui who was assassinated by Israel. In the following years, he turned the organization, which is financed and equipped by Iran, into a real political force, represented in parliament and the government.

At the same time, her arsenal also evolved. According to him, the organization has 100,000 fighters and possesses powerful weapons, such as precision missiles.

Hezbollah is the only organization that did not lay down its arms with the end of the civil war in Lebanon (1975-90), in the name of “resistance against Israel”. The Israeli army gradually withdrew from this country until in May 2000 it evacuated the southern areas as well, after 22 years of occupation.

With clashes between his men and the Israeli army, Hassan Nasrallah consolidated his power and gained respect in 1997 when his eldest son, Hadi, was killed in battle.

The 2006 war with Israel, which lasted 33 days, allowed him to demonstrate the strength of the movement, as his fighters resisted the Israeli army. That summer, 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, were killed, as well as 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Nasrallah had declared the end of the war, speaking of a “divine victory”.

In Lebanon, he often found his back against the wall when his party was blamed for the assassination of the former prime minister Rafik Haririin 2005 and then when its armed fighters temporarily took control of the capital in May 2008.

Nevertheless, he increased his influence not only in Lebanon but also in the wider region.

In 2013 he announced that Hezbollah had intervened militarily in neighboring Syria to support his regime Bashar al-Assadafter the civil war that broke out in 2011. As it enjoys the complete trust of the Iranian leadership, it trains and supports movements close to Tehran in the region.

Hezbollah is today the “jewel in the crown” of Iran’s allies in the region who form the so-called “axis of resistance” that includes several armed organizations in Iraq, the Houthi rebels of Yemen and the Palestinian Hamas.

Since the start of the Gaza war between Hamas and Israel, Hassan Nasrallah has opened a front in Lebanon to support his Palestinian allies but at the same time has tried to avoid a full-scale war with Israel.