Sunni-Shia tensions heightened with the death of Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafic Al Hariri and Syria's withdrawal from the country in 2005. They became much more intense with the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. The killing of Rafik Hariri was the first and most powerful earthquake in Syria's Sunni-Shia balancing act, which had previously been managed by Syria.

Between Hariri's assassination in 2005 and the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011, the years that followed were marked by uncertainty, carnage, and continuous unrest. The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in July 2006 established the party and the community on whose behalf it claimed to speak as a major regional power.