Leading Syria’s bloody reconquest of the rebel stronghold in Aleppo was Hizballah, which, according to Yoram Schweitzer, is the “most professional” of the various ground forces fighting to maintain Bashar al-Assad’s rule. (Russia is fighting mainly from the air, and Iranian forces are present primarily in advisory and supporting roles.) Schweitzer argues that Hizballah must no longer be considered a terrorist or insurgent group but an army. (Interview by BICOM; audio available at the link below.)
Hizballah, through its deep involvement in the Syrian civil war, has shifted from a force of “resistance” into an occupying force [and has] totally aligned itself with the Assad regime, having shared in its brutality against the local population. To date it’s quite clear that Hizballah is a very focal player in the Syrian arena. Iran, of course, is running the show; Hizballah is totally committed and subject to Iranian policy. . . . . Hizballah is doing the hard work for the Iranians in Syria and is responsible for establishing new organizations composed of local volunteers and foreign fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. . . .
Hizballah has virtually abandoned its “defensive” role against Israel—which it once boasted of so often—or at least put it aside temporarily. It is mainly focused in Syria and is immersed in this war. Hizballah knows that the results of this war will have concrete repercussions for its future in Lebanon and its connections to the regime of Assad. . . .
[Hizballah’s] experience in Syria has qualified it to become a better fighting force. Hizballah is no more merely an organization, it is an army. . . . In the past, it used to employ guerrilla and terrorist tactics, but now it’s fighting as an armed force with a very clear-cut structure. . . .
As for Israel, . . [it] is looking very soberly at what is going on in Syria. It looks at Hizballah’s expenses, resources invested, number of casualties, and the fact that Hizballah is immersed in the quagmire of Syria which prevents it from bothering Israel. [However], Hizballah is gaining more and more experience, it is being trained, being equipped, it has partnerships not only with Iran and Syria, which of course will guarantee their full support without any limitations, but also with Russia.
Read more on BICOM: http://www.bicom.org.uk/analysis/bicom-briefing-hezbollah-and-iranian-forces-in-aleppo-and-the-syrian-civil-war/