Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah

Why in news?

Following the recent drone attack on the Golan heights onIsrealLebanon border which killedatleast12,Isrealconducts a rocketstrike on Beirut, which it said killed theHezbollah commander(FouadShukur)who was allegedly behindearlier strike, and at the same dayHamas political chief(IsmailHaniyeh)was killed in Iran capital Tehran.

Earlier onjuly20Isrealconducted a massive air strike inHodeidah, theRedseaport city inYeman, controlled byHouthimilitiain response to a drone attack byhouthison TelAvivi

All these three incidentsconnectsIran as a common factor for the three groups.

✓The incident raisesfears ofa broader conflagration in the region.

About Hezbollah:

➢Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon

➢It emerged in the 1980s as a response to the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon

➢It is also designated as a terroristorganisationby several countries, including the United States and Israel.

Blue Line

➢Theborder between Israel and Lebanon, known as the "Blue Line,"was set by the United Nations in 2000after Israel withdrew its military from southern Lebanon.

➢It'snot an official international borderbuta demarcation line.

Originally, it was the boundary established by Britain and France in the 1920s, between Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.

Hamas:

➢Hamas is a Palestinian political armed group that was founded in1987. It's a militant group that emerged as aresistance movement against Israeli occupation.

➢Hamas was created in 1987 as anoffshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhoodseeking to fulfill its agenda through violent jihad.

➢It gained popularity as a resistance movement against Israeli occupation andFatah.

➢The United States hasdesignated Hamas a terror organization since 1997. Many other countries, including Israel and most of Europe, see it the same way.

AboutGolan Heights:

➢It is a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, about 60km (40 miles) south-west of Damascus (the capital of Syria).

➢It's considered occupied territory under international law and UN Security Council resolutions.

➢It covers an area of 1,000sqkm.

➢It is bounded by the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee on the west, Mount Hermon on the north, the seasonalWadiAl-RuqqadRiver on the east, and theYarmukRiver on the south

➢Israel seized the Golan Heightsfrom Syriain the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War.