Key Takeaways:
- In the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, one actor that gets limited media attention is the Amal movement, the Iran-backed terror organization’s junior partner.
- Despite not being as fundamentalist as Hezbollah, the Amal movement represents the terror organization’s interests on the international stage and is fighting alongside it against the Jewish state.
- For news consumers to have a full understanding of the dynamics at play between Israel, Hezbollah, and the Lebanese state, the media must provide them with a full look at the conflict, which includes the Amal movement.
As media attention remains fixed on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, another key actor continues to escape meaningful scrutiny: Hezbollah’s junior partner, the Amal movement.
That blind spot was on display most recently when both The New York Times and Sky News covered the funeral of a first responder killed in an Israeli strike, yet overlooked the unmistakable red-and-green Amal flags draped across the motorcade carrying his body to the cemetery.
While Amal may not carry Hezbollah’s global notoriety, it has played a pivotal role in Lebanon’s modern history and remains an active participant in the military and political architecture confronting Israel today.
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Meet Ahmad Hariri. According to The New York Times, he was “a paramedic and photojournalist who was killed in Deir Qanoun an-Nahr on Friday” in an Israeli airstrike.Don’t let the press vest fool you. Was Ahmad Hariri targeted for his medical or media work? Five minutes… pic.twitter.com/DO3CXiI2Lp
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 25, 2026
Founded in 1974 by the charismatic Shiite cleric Musa al-Sadr, Amal, an acronym for the “Lebanese Resistance Regiments,” meaning “hope” in Arabic, initially emerged as a movement focused on social justice for Lebanon’s marginalized Shiite population.
Its early mission was focused on the betterment of Lebanon’s impoverished Shiite population, including improving its political position and raising its socioeconomic status. While arising from the Shiite community, Amal’s guiding philosophy was the development of a Lebanese society where all the major religious communities were taken care of.
The outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975 transformed Amal from a political and social movement into one of the most significant Shiite militias in Lebanon, particularly in the country’s south.
That evolution accelerated under Nabih Berri, who assumed leadership in 1980 and remains at Amal’s helm to this day.
In 1982, a new Shiite movement arose in southern Lebanon, the Islamist Hezbollah terrorist organization. While Amal was considered to be more moderate and secular, the influence of radical Shiism from the newly created Islamic Republic of Iran created friction within it, with many Amal members dissatisfied with the movement’s centrist approach, leaving to join the more radical and violent Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad organizations.
While Hezbollah and the Amal movement were defined by differing philosophies regarding theology and violence, observers noted that, on the grassroots level, the average organization member did not view the groups as being inherently different, and their choice of membership in one over the other was largely due to personal loyalties.
Following the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in 1982, the Amal movement was largely focused on passive resistance to Israel’s military presence but Amal members commonly engaged with Israeli soldiers alongside Islamist Shiite militiamen. At the same time, Amal members also engaged in conflict with Palestinian militias as part of the Lebanese Civil War.
Near the end of the Civil War, Amal (which was primarily supported by Syria) engaged in a conflict with the Iran-backed Hezbollah for the loyalty of the Lebanese Shiite community.
The conflict, known as the “War of Brothers” lasted until 1990 and ended with an agreed division of labor where Hezbollah would control armed opposition to Israel while Amal would serve the Shiite community in the political and social realm.
In 1992, Amal entered the Lebanese parliament for the first time and its leader, Berri, became the parliamentary speaker, a position which he has maintained for over 30 years (according to Lebanese political tradition, the Speaker of Parliament must always be a member of the Shiite community).
When Hezbollah entered the Lebanese parliament in 2005, it solidified the terror organization’s status as the dominant Shiite movement in all realms and relegated Amal to a secondary player.
However, despite the power asymmetry between the two movements, they are both considered “partners” or “sister organizations” in representing the needs of the Lebanese Shiite community.
Despite their ideological differences, Amal is part of the Hezbollah-associated March 8 movement and regularly votes in line with Hezbollah’s interests in the Lebanese parliament. As well, due to its moderate appearance and political respectability, Amal often represents Hezbollah’s interests in negotiations with the international community.
Just another day at @NPR:
❌ Calling Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon “occupation” and referring to “waves of airstrikes” while omitting the reason: Hezbollah’s repeated indiscriminate attacks on northern Israel.
❌ Claiming the war “began in March,” erasing the fact that… pic.twitter.com/M9BCUstoRR— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 26, 2026
One day after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacre, Hezbollah opened a northern front against Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel’s ensuing conflict with Hezbollah continued until a November 2024 ceasefire.
Hezbollah never fully observed the ceasefire and, following the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei as part of the American-Israeli attack on Iran, reignited the conflict by firing on Israel’s north.
During the first (October 2023-November 2024) and second (March 2026-present) conflicts, Amal gunmen participated in fighting against Israeli security forces alongside Hezbollah.
Despite there being signs that Amal was upset with Hezbollah for reigniting the conflict with Israel in 2026 (and even not opposing the Lebanese government’s outlawing of Hezbollah’s violent activities), Amal has buttressed Hezbollah’s militant activities during this conflict.
However, there is a clear distinction between Amal and Hezbollah’s fight with Israel.
Hezbollah’s confrontation with Israel is rooted in its Islamist ideology and allegiance to Iran’s regional revolutionary project. Its fallen fighters are routinely described as having been “martyred on the road to Jerusalem.”
Amal, by contrast, presents itself as fundamentally Lebanese nationalist. It commemorates its dead as having fallen “defending Lebanon and the south.”
But these differences should not obscure the central reality.
Whatever rhetorical distinctions Amal draws between itself and Hezbollah, it remains an active combatant in the campaign against Israel and an integral component of the infrastructure sustaining Hezbollah’s war effort.
When major media outlets erase or ignore Amal’s role, they distort the realities of the conflict and help sanitize the broader militant ecosystem operating in southern Lebanon.
Amal may be Hezbollah’s junior partner.
But it is no innocent bystander.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
