Hezbollah foreign relations fashion of bin Laden, we do not endorse them. And many of the operations that they have carried out, we condemned them very clearly." Michel Samaha, Lebanon's former minister of information, has said that Hezbollah has been an important ally of the government in the war against terrorist groups, and described the "American attempt to link Hezbollah to al-Qaeda" to be "astonishing". As part of a surge of intersectarian support for Hezbollah during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's deputy leader, called for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Zionists and join the fighting in Lebanon.
Hezbollah armed strength participation." Andrew Exum says that Hezbollah won by combing kinetic (violent) and non-kinetic lines of operation. Over its history, the organization has performed many different kinds of warfare, including terrorism, insurgency, sub-state conflict, hybrid warfare, and counter-insurgency. Qualitatively, Hezbollah is described as ruthless and arrogant, willing to use physical force to effect political change, and prioritizing hard power. The party's strategy combines extremist rhetoric, tactical caution, and long-term risk taking. Arguably, its core source of strength is its effective, sustained violence. A number of sources say that Hezbollah's fighting strength is the foundation on which its political power, public support,