Founded: July 1995

Chairman: Hassan Nasrallah + Unknown

Membership: Hashem Saffiedine, Hussein Khalil, Abbas Rouhani, Wafiq Safa, Ibrahim ‘Aqil, Fouad Shukur, Ali Da’oun, Abdelhadi Hamadi, Abbas Haraken, Hassan Izzedine, Nabil Qaouq, Hassan Hilu Laqis (deceased).

History and Functions:

The Jihad Council was founded at the end of Hezbollah’s fourth conclave, in July of 1995. Hashem Saffiedine, the current head of the Executive Council, was appointed as its chairman and as a member of the Shura Council. While Hezbollah had been engaging in armed activity since its inception, it established the Council as a practical matter to closely monitor, supervise, and direct its attacks against Israeli forces then occupying south Lebanon.

However, the Council’s importance only grew after the May 25, 2000 of Israeli troops from all Lebanese territory, as certified by the United Nations. Reflecting this increased importance, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah himself has chaired the Jihad Council since Hezbollah’s seventh conclave, which lasted from June to August 16, 2004. In practical terms, however, the Council also had a military head from the ranks of Hezbollah’s fighting cadres. Imad Mughniyeh filled that role until his assassination in Damascus in February of 2008. He was succeeded by Mustafa Badreddine, his brother-in-law and partner from the earliest days of Hezbollah’s terrorist activities, who held the position until he met his end in Syria in May of 2016. It is unknown who Hezbollah has chosen to replace Badreddine. However, possible successors include Imad Mughniyeh’s elder son Mustafa, Ibrahim Aqil, Fouad Shukur, or Talal Hamiyeh, who was reportedly serving as the head of Hezbollah’s external operations Unit 910.

The Jihad Council is made up of “those in charge of resistance activity, be that in terms of oversight, recruitment, training, equipment, security, or any other resistance-related endeavors,” says Naim Qassem. Qassem also notes that the Jihad Council interconnects with Hezbollah’s otherwise “purely political” bodies and sub-units wherever there is an overlap of activities, “at either the jihad, recruitment or support ranks,” dispelling any notion that Hezbollah’s military activities operate in a vacuum from its political activities.

The Jihad Council assesses the circumstances facing Hezbollah and decides on the strategies and tactics of its military actions. It also sets down the general guidelines of Hezbollah’s military units, including the Islamic Resistance, under the guidance of the Secretary General and the Shura Council. However, actual implementation of armed activity is left to the party’s military apparatus. The Jihad Council’s several functionaries are tasked with responsibility for closely monitoring and executing military operations, logistics, supplies, screening of recruits, training, party VIP protection, etc.

The Council diagnoses and identifies threats facing the party or what it deems to be dangers to the Islamic umma, their imminence, immediate impact, and means of resisting them. As far as can be told, these threats include the United States, Israel and Zionism, Saudi Arabia, takfiri Sunni groups, and “Westoxification.” Confronting said dangers can take on various forms, ranging from armed force to unarmed political means that aim at “conquering” the state and society from the bottom up – as in the case of Lebanon.

Like all of Hezbollah’s other Councils, the Jihad Council is under the direct control of the movement’s supreme body, the Shura Council. It takes orders and directions from this single leadership, to which all political, social, and jihad work is tied. Naim Qassem explains that, “the same leadership that directs [Hezbollah’s] parliamentary and government work also leads jihad actions,” against Israel and the party’s other foes. The Jihad Council also coordinates with and takes orders from Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). It also maintains a relationship with Syrian intelligence and, through them, with Lebanon’s intelligence directorates.

When the Jihad Council assesses that armed action is necessary, it makes this recommendation to the Shura Council for its approval. The Shura Council, in turn, obtains approval from the Wali al-Faqih, who has the final say on such matters.