Shebaa

Shebaa is a predominantly Sunni Muslim town in the Nabatieh Governorate of southern Lebanon, situated at an elevation of approximately 1,500 meters near the tripoint with Israel and Syria.^[1] With a population estimated at around 25,000 residents, the town features narrow roads and clustered housing typical of mountainous Lebanese villages, and it lies in close proximity to the Shebaa Farms, a narrow strip of approximately 22 square kilometers of hilly farmland.^[1] The Shebaa Farms, occupied by Israel since 1967 as part of the Golan Heights captured from Syria, became a focal point of territorial contention following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, with Lebanon asserting sovereignty based on historical private land deeds rather than definitive state boundary demarcations from the French Mandate era.^[2] This ambiguity in colonial-era mapping has fueled ongoing disputes, enabling Hezbollah to justify cross-border attacks on Israel as "resistance" against an alleged Lebanese occupation, despite Syria's initial affirmation of the area as its own territory and scholarly analyses questioning the validity of Lebanon's post-2000 claims.^[3][2] Shebaa's strategic location has repeatedly placed it in the crossfire of regional conflicts, including Israeli military operations and Hezbollah activities, underscoring its role in broader Lebanese-Israeli hostilities rather than as a site of independent economic or cultural prominence.^[4]

Geography and Location

Topography and Borders

Shebaa is a village situated in the Hasbaya District of Lebanon's Nabatieh Governorate, at an elevation of approximately 1,500 meters above sea level, spread across two steep, rocky mountainsides.^[1] The surrounding topography consists of rugged, hilly terrain typical of the southeastern Lebanese highlands near Mount Hermon, with elevations in the adjacent Shebaa Farms area varying from 400 meters to 2,000 meters.^[5] This mountainous landscape provides strategic overlooks but limits accessibility and agriculture to terraced farming on lower slopes. The village's borders place it at a sensitive tripoint: to the east along the Lebanon-Syria boundary, which forms part of the 394 km frontier running south to the Israel tripoint, and to the south adjoining Israeli-occupied territory including the Golan Heights.^[6] The adjacent Shebaa Farms, a narrow strip roughly 9 km by 2.5 km occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War, remains disputed, with Lebanon asserting ownership based on historical land deeds while Israel and the United Nations maintain it belongs to Syria.^[5][7] This configuration stems from ambiguous French Mandate-era delimitations, complicating de facto control and contributing to ongoing cross-border tensions.^[1]

Climate and Environment

Shebaa, located at elevations of approximately 1,000 to 1,500 meters above sea level in Lebanon's Hasbaya district, features a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Average annual temperatures range from lows of 3°C (37°F) in January to highs of 30°C (86°F) in August, with extremes rarely exceeding 33°C (92°F) or dropping below -1°C (31°F). Precipitation totals around 600–700 mm annually, concentrated from October to April, while summers from May to September are arid with negligible rainfall.^[8][9] The region's rugged, mountainous terrain supports terraced agriculture, including olive groves, vineyards, and cereal crops, alongside maquis shrublands and scattered oak woodlands typical of Lebanon's eastern slopes. Water resources are vital, with springs in the Shebaa Farms area contributing to regional hydrology, including flows toward the Jordan River basin; however, these have been central to hydro-diplomatic tensions due to their strategic value.^[1][10] Environmental pressures include recurrent droughts, as evidenced by the 2025 drying of an agricultural lake in Shebaa, rendering it unusable and exacerbating water scarcity for farming. Wildfires, intensified by military conflicts, have scorched forested areas and olive orchards, destroying habitats and reducing biodiversity in southern Lebanon's border regions. Reports indicate contamination from incendiary munitions, such as white phosphorus used in recent hostilities, persisting in soil and water, though long-term ecological impacts remain under assessment by independent verification.^[11][12][13]

Historical Background

Early and Ottoman Periods

The region encompassing Shebaa was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1516–17 following Sultan Selim I's defeat of the Mamluks, which extended control over Lebanon as part of the broader Levantine territories.^[14] Prior to this, the area fell under Mamluk administration from the late 13th century, succeeding Ayyubid and earlier Islamic dynasties after the Arab conquests of the 7th century, though specific settlement patterns in Shebaa during these early medieval periods remain undocumented beyond regional agricultural use.^[14] Under four centuries of Ottoman rule until 1918, Shebaa functioned as a rural Sunni Muslim village in the Hasbaya district, primarily sustained by farming on terraced hillsides near Mount Hermon.^[1] Ottoman archival records explicitly link ownership of adjacent farmlands—later termed Shebaa Farms—to residents of Shebaa, evidencing local land tenure and administrative ties to Lebanese-side qadas rather than Syrian ones, contrary to later delimitations.^[15] These documents, including tax and property registers, reflect the Tanzimat reforms of the mid-19th century, which formalized land registration and centralized governance, positioning Shebaa within the Eyalet of Sidon or Damascus's peripheral sanjaks.^[16] Pre-Ottoman early history specific to Shebaa lacks detailed attestation, aligning with its status as a minor locale amid larger Canaanite, Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine influences in southern Lebanon, where the terrain supported sparse, agrarian communities without noted urban or monumental development. The village's enduring agricultural orientation, documented in Ottoman sources, underscores continuity from these foundational periods, with no evidence of significant disruptions until modern border conflicts.

French Mandate and Border Delimitations

The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, conferred by the League of Nations in April 1920 following the San Remo Conference, placed both territories under French administration, which proceeded to delineate boundaries between the newly created State of Greater Lebanon—proclaimed on September 1, 1920—and the Syrian states. These initial borders were sketched broadly, drawing on imprecise 19th-century Ottoman surveys, particularly in southern highland areas like the Shebaa region, without comprehensive on-ground demarcation due to logistical challenges in rugged terrain.^[6][17] French military cartographers produced detailed maps in the 1930s, including a 1933 border delineation and subsequent updates, explicitly positioning the Shebaa Farms—approximately 22 square kilometers of farmland at the intersection of modern Lebanon, Syria, and the Golan Heights—within Syrian territory, administered as part of the Damascus state extending toward Quneitra. A 1942 map, corroborated by earlier surveys, reinforced this classification, reflecting administrative oversight by Syrian authorities under French supervision, with no recorded Lebanese jurisdictional claims during the Mandate.^[16][18][6] Despite this cartographic and administrative assignment to Syria, residents of Shebaa maintained cross-border familial and economic links with Lebanese villages in the Hasbaya district, fostering a sense of local affinity not formally recognized in official divisions. French records from the 1930s noted minor territorial irregularities and enclaves along the Lebanon-Syria frontier but upheld Shebaa Farms' status as Syrian, prioritizing strategic and demographic considerations over granular adjustments.^[18][19] The Mandate's conclusion in 1946, with Syria's independence, inherited these undemarcated lines, as French authorities transferred control without resolving ambiguities in peripheral zones like Shebaa, setting the stage for post-colonial disputes. Syrian governance persisted uninterrupted, evidenced by land registry documents and taxation records attributing the area to Damascus province equivalents.^[16][18]

Post-Independence Era

Following Lebanon's independence in 1943 and the full withdrawal of French forces in 1946, Shebaa, a rural Shiite-majority village in the Hasbaya district, experienced relative stability amid the country's broader political consolidation, with its economy centered on agriculture such as olive and fruit cultivation in the surrounding hilly terrain. The village's proximity to the Israel-Syria-Lebanon tripoint began to draw it into regional tensions during the 1960s, particularly after Palestinian fedayeen operations from southern Lebanese bases prompted Israeli cross-border raids. In June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli forces occupied the adjacent Shebaa Farms—a 25-square-kilometer (9.6-square-mile) strip of terraced farmland at the base of Mount Hermon—capturing it from Syrian administration as part of the Golan Heights.^[20][21] Israel integrated the area into its Golan administrative framework in 1981, while Lebanon at the time did not formally contest Syrian sovereignty over the Farms.^[22] The 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War exacerbated instability in southern Lebanon, with Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) activities from bases near Shebaa drawing Israeli responses, including the 1978 Operation Litani, which temporarily advanced Israeli forces into the region up to the Litani River. In June 1982, Israel's larger invasion of Lebanon to expel the PLO led to the occupation of southern Lebanon, including Hasbaya district and Shebaa village, establishing a "security zone" patrolled by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the allied South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia. This period, lasting until 2000, involved guerrilla resistance from emerging Shiite groups, including precursors to Hezbollah, amid heavy civilian tolls from clashes, shelling, and economic disruption; the zone's buffer purpose aimed to prevent attacks on northern Israel but fueled local resentment.^[23][24] Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the security zone in May 2000, verified by the United Nations as reaching the international border except for the Shebaa Farms, ended direct occupation of Shebaa village but left the Farms under Israeli control, prompting Lebanon to revive claims of sovereignty based on Ottoman-era cadastral records and French Mandate maps showing the area as Lebanese. Syria, however, has consistently asserted the Farms as its territory, with former President Bashar al-Assad rejecting Lebanese ownership in negotiations. Hezbollah framed post-withdrawal attacks on Israeli positions in the Farms—beginning with operations in July 2000—as legitimate resistance to complete Lebanon's "liberation," using the dispute to justify retaining arms despite UN Security Council Resolution 1559's call for disarmament.^[18][25][26] The Farms have since served as a flashpoint for intermittent cross-border fire, contributing to escalations such as the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, where Hezbollah cited their "liberation" among casus belli, and ongoing skirmishes through 2024, including Hezbollah rocket and anti-tank attacks on IDF outposts in solidarity with Hamas operations. These claims remain unresolved, with Lebanon demanding Israeli withdrawal as a precondition for broader demarcations, while Israel conditions any concession on Syrian-Lebanese border clarification; the area's strategic value, including water resources from the Wazzani River and Mount Hermon slopes, underscores its role in perpetuating tensions.^[27][28]

Demographics and Society

Population Statistics

Estimates for Shebaa's population range from 25,000 to 30,000 inhabitants, reflecting the absence of a national census in Lebanon since 1932 and reliance on local reports, voter registrations, and projections. A 2013 analysis described the town as having 25,000 residents, predominantly settled in the elevated village core and adjacent farmlands.^[1] A village profile from Lebanese civil society organizations similarly estimates around 30,000 people, noting that conflict-related internal displacements have affected up to 17,000 individuals at times, primarily during Israeli incursions and Hezbollah-Israel clashes.^[29] Population density is low due to the rugged, mountainous terrain spanning approximately 20 square kilometers, with most residents concentrated in the main settlement at elevations of 1,500 to 1,700 meters. Emigration, driven by economic pressures and border tensions, has likely reduced resident numbers since the 2010s, though no verified post-2020 figures exist amid Lebanon's broader crises; district-level data for Hasbaya indicates stability around 37,000-40,000 total across multiple localities as of 2017 estimates.^[30] Discrepancies in counts arise from distinguishing permanent residents from registered voters or diaspora-affiliated families, with some border-area assessments suggesting lower daily presence owing to security risks.^[31]

Religious and Ethnic Composition

Shebaa exhibits a predominantly Sunni Muslim religious composition, with reports consistently describing its population as largely Sunni.^[1][32] Sectarian tensions in the area have occasionally highlighted this demographic, including influxes of Sunni refugees from Syria exacerbating local dynamics.^[32] Lebanon's absence of a national census since 1932 limits precise quantification, but voter registries and community profiles suggest Sunni Muslims constitute the overwhelming majority, estimated at over 90% in electoral contexts.^[1] A small minority of Christians, primarily Greek Orthodox, is present, though their numbers remain unquantified in available data.^[29] Ethnically, the residents of Shebaa are overwhelmingly Arab, consistent with Lebanon's broader demographic profile where Arabs comprise approximately 95% of the population.^[33] No significant non-Arab ethnic minorities, such as Armenians or Kurds, are documented in the village, reflecting its location in the homogeneous southern border region.^[1] This ethnic uniformity underscores the primacy of religious identity in local social structures, as in much of Lebanon.

Social Structure and Education

The social structure of Shebaa, a predominantly Sunni Muslim village, is organized around extended family networks and community cooperatives, reflecting traditional rural Lebanese patterns where kinship ties influence social and economic roles. Approximately 200 families in the village rely on remittances and charitable aid due to lack of income, while the labor force is divided with 10% engaged in industrial or liberal professions, 15% in government employment—predominantly security and military positions—and the remainder in agriculture and livestock rearing. Community governance supports this through a municipal council of 18 elected members, aided by committees and 21 permanent staff, alongside organizations such as the Chebaa Cooperative Association for Beekeepers and the Chebaa Agricultural Cooperative Association, which foster collective economic activities. Youth groups affiliated with religious, political, and charitable entities further reinforce social cohesion amid regional challenges.^[29][1] Education in Shebaa is provided through a mix of public and private institutions, with one public elementary school, one private elementary school, and one public secondary school serving the local population of around 8,000 winter residents from a total estimated 30,000 including displaced and migrants. Most children attend these schools, though higher education requires travel to universities in nearby cities like Saida or Beirut. Enrollment data indicates significant student numbers, with public schools accommodating hundreds amid Lebanon's broader system where public institutions handle foundational cycles. Access has been strained by recurrent conflicts and economic crises, yet the village maintains these facilities as core public infrastructure.^[29][34]

Economy and Infrastructure

Agricultural and Economic Activities

The primary economic activities in Shebaa revolve around agriculture, which has historically been the mainstay of the local economy but has significantly declined due to prolonged conflict and emigration.^[29] Traditional farming in the village focused on fruit orchards including peaches, cherries, apples, and pears, alongside nut cultivation and seasonal vegetables.^[29] The area's fertile terrain, supported by abundant water sources such as the Hasbani River, also sustains production of grapes, olives, and almonds.^[35] Historical infrastructure like water mills, used for grinding grains such as wheat, underscored milling as a complementary economic function tied to agriculture, with mills serving as hubs for trade and processing where farmers paid in portions of their harvest (typically 12.5% of wheat).^[35][36] However, the agricultural sector began collapsing in the early 1970s amid escalating regional conflicts, leading to widespread emigration and reduced cultivation.^[29] In the broader Hasbaya district encompassing Shebaa, olives dominate land use, with up to 90% of arable area in some sub-regions dedicated to olive groves, though wartime destruction—including scorched trees and contamination—has further hampered yields as of 2024.^[12] Non-agricultural economic pursuits remain limited, constrained by Shebaa's remote border location and security challenges, with no significant industry or tourism development documented.^[29] Recent conflicts, including the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war, have exacerbated vulnerabilities in southern Lebanon's farming, restricting producer activities and market access for staples like olives and vegetables.^[37] Overall, the local economy reflects a pattern of subsistence-level agriculture undermined by geopolitical instability rather than diversified growth.^[29]

Educational and Public Facilities

Shebaa's educational infrastructure is modest, centered on Shebaa's Primary School, the only school reported to be operational in the locality as of June 2024, where UNIFIL Indian peacekeepers conducted an inspirational visit to engage students.^[38] This public institution serves local Lebanese children alongside Syrian refugees, with enrollment figures from 2017 indicating approximately 400 Lebanese and 700 Syrian students under principal Hatem Ghanem, reflecting strains from hosting displaced populations amid inadequate regional infrastructure.^[39] Higher education access is unavailable locally, requiring residents to travel to district centers like Hasbaya or further to Nabatieh or Beirut for secondary and tertiary schooling. Public facilities remain basic and vulnerable to conflict, including a local health center struck by an Israeli airstrike on September 28, 2024, in Shebaa town, Hasbaya district.^[40] Advanced medical care depends on the Hasbaya Governmental Hospital, situated in the district seat along Zaghla Street, equipped for general services under director Dr. Fadi Makhoul Saadeh as of recent listings.^[41] Ongoing hostilities have repurposed many southern Lebanese public schools, including potentially those near Shebaa, into shelters for internally displaced persons, exacerbating disruptions to education and community services since late 2024.^[42] Municipal infrastructure, such as water networks supporting public amenities, faced severe outages in Shebaa and adjacent villages following strikes on October 19, 2024, leaving nine southeast localities without supply.^[43]

Political and Security Dynamics

Local Governance and Political Affiliations

Shebaa is governed by an elected municipal council responsible for local administration, public services, infrastructure maintenance, and community development within the framework of Lebanon's decentralized municipal system. The municipality belongs to the Federation of Municipalities of Al-Arqoub, which coordinates efforts across several towns in the Hasbaya District of Nabatieh Governorate.^[44] Municipal elections in Shebaa occur every six years in alignment with national polls; the most recent took place on May 25, 2025, as the final phase covering southern governorates including Nabatieh, following delays since the previous vote in 2016 due to economic instability and political deadlock.^[45][46] Voter turnout in southern Lebanon reached approximately 37%, lower than the 48% recorded in 2016, amid ongoing regional tensions including Israeli strikes.^[45] Political affiliations in Shebaa's governance reflect the dominance of established parties in southern Lebanon, where alliances backed by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement secured sweeping wins across dozens of municipalities in Nabatieh and adjacent areas during the 2025 elections.^[45][47] These groups maintain influence through provision of social services, security coordination, and advocacy on border issues, extending even to Sunni-majority locales like Shebaa due to shared resistance narratives against Israeli presence.^[45] The municipality has actively asserted Lebanese claims to the adjacent Shebaa Farms, condemning external suggestions of alternative sovereignty as detrimental to national interests.^[48] Local authorities have partnered with international bodies for development, including UNIFIL's support in December 2020 for building a healthcare facility operated by the Lebanese Red Cross to enhance community services.^[49] Such collaborations underscore the municipality's role in bridging local needs with external aid amid limited central government capacity.

Militant Group Influence and Hezbollah Presence

Hezbollah established a sustained militant presence in the Shebaa region following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon on May 22, 2000, framing the adjacent Shebaa Farms as unfinished Lebanese territory to legitimize cross-border operations against Israeli forces overlooking the area from the Golan Heights. This initiated a protracted low-intensity conflict, with Hezbollah conducting its inaugural post-withdrawal raid on May 21, 2000, targeting Israeli positions and escalating to regular ambushes, kidnappings, and rocket fire that resulted in dozens of casualties on both sides by 2006.^[18] The group's activities centered on the Farms' rugged terrain, which provided strategic cover for guerrilla tactics, while its narrative of "resistance" garnered support among local Shiite populations in Shebaa village and Hasbaya district, where Hezbollah's social welfare networks—funded largely by Iran—reinforced recruitment and operational embedding.^[50] Post-2006 Lebanon War cease-fire, Hezbollah maintained observation posts, bunkers, and launch sites in the Shebaa vicinity, sporadically targeting Israeli outposts to assert territorial claims and deter encroachments, including artillery strikes on five positions on October 14, 2023, and guided rocket attacks on border facilities on October 8, 2023, amid solidarity with Hamas's October 7 assault in Gaza.^[51][27] Escalation persisted into late 2024, with two projectiles launched toward Mount Dov (the Israeli designation for Shebaa Farms) on December 2, 2024, prompting Israeli retaliatory artillery.^[52] By October 2025, amid broader Israel-Hezbollah hostilities, Israeli ground units dismantled multiple Hezbollah rocket-launching infrastructures in the Shebaa Farms sector, highlighting the group's entrenched fortifications despite repeated degradation.^[53] While Palestinian militant factions such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad maintain limited footholds in Lebanon's refugee camps and occasionally coordinate with Hezbollah, the latter dominates Shebaa's security landscape through superior armament, training, and local alliances, effectively sidelining rivals and shaping village governance via proxy influence over municipal decisions and anti-Israel mobilization.^[54] This hegemony, bolstered by Hezbollah's status as a "state within a state," has stifled Lebanese Army deployment in the area, allowing the group to dictate border dynamics without formal state oversight.^[50]

Conflicts and Regional Tensions

Involvement in Broader Israel-Lebanon Conflicts

The Shebaa Farms area has served as a focal point for Hezbollah's cross-border operations against Israel since Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, which the United Nations certified as complete except for this disputed territory administered by Israel as part of the Golan Heights.^[18] Hezbollah framed attacks on the Farms as efforts to liberate Lebanese soil, thereby justifying its retention of weapons and militant infrastructure despite the withdrawal, a position adopted by the Lebanese government in late 2000 to legitimize ongoing resistance.^[55] From May 2000 to July 2006, the Farms functioned as the primary arena for Israel-Hezbollah clashes, involving Hezbollah rocket, mortar, and small-arms assaults met by Israeli artillery and airstrikes, resulting in dozens of incidents that sustained low-intensity conflict along the border.^[18] These engagements contributed to broader escalations, including Hezbollah's linking of the Farms dispute to other issues like water rights at the Wazzani River, aiming to internationalize pressures on Israel while maintaining a state of armed readiness.^[56] Although the July 2006 Lebanon War was triggered by Hezbollah's cross-border raid on July 12 that killed and captured Israeli soldiers, the Farms dispute provided a rhetorical pretext for Hezbollah's overall strategy of confrontation, with the group citing unresolved occupation as grounds for its preemptive posture; resolution of the issue was proposed post-war as a potential de-escalation measure but remained unaddressed amid mutual distrust.^[18] Syria's support for Lebanon's claim over the Farms has been interpreted as a tactic to leverage the dispute for concessions on the Golan Heights, intertwining the local territorial issue with wider regional dynamics involving Damascus.^[22] In the context of the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent multi-front war, Hezbollah initiated strikes on Israeli positions in the Shebaa Farms on October 8, 2023, launching guided missiles and artillery in solidarity with Palestinians, which prompted Israeli retaliatory fire and marked the start of intensified daily exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border.^[27] These actions, continuing into 2024, embedded the Farms within the expanded Israel-Hezbollah-Iran proxy confrontations, with Hezbollah conducting over 7,000 cross-border attacks by mid-2024, many referencing the disputed area to frame operations as defensive or liberatory rather than aligned with Hamas's offensive.^[57] The persistent use of the Farms as a casus belli has hindered diplomatic efforts, such as U.S.-brokered border talks, by symbolizing unresolved grievances that Hezbollah exploits to sustain its military relevance amid Lebanon's internal weaknesses.^[28]

Key Incidents and Israeli Operations (1967–2025)

In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli forces captured the Golan Heights from Syria, including the Shebaa Farms area, which Israel administered as part of the annexed territory despite Lebanese claims to portions of it based on local land records.^[27] Israel maintained military control over the Farms, deploying troops to patrol and secure the elevated border zone amid sporadic infiltrations by Palestinian fedayeen groups in the late 1960s and 1970s.^[3] During Israel's broader occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, the Shebaa Farms served as a forward defensive position, with Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) conducting routine patrols and artillery emplacements to counter guerrilla attacks from Shiite militants backed by Syria and Iran. Hezbollah, emerging in the mid-1980s, began targeting IDF outposts in the Farms with ambushes and rocket fire, though major operations focused elsewhere until Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon proper in May 2000, leaving the Farms under Israeli control as per UN delimitation maps identifying it as Syrian territory.^[18] Post-withdrawal, Hezbollah framed retention of the Farms as justification for continued resistance, launching over 30 attacks between 2000 and 2006, including a June 30, 2001, ambush wounding six IDF soldiers, met by Israeli airstrikes killing one Hezbollah fighter; a May 7, 2003, assault killing one soldier and wounding five, prompting artillery retaliation; and multiple rocket barrages in 2004-2005 that inflicted seven IDF fatalities overall.^[58] Israel responded with targeted drone strikes, artillery barrages, and occasional ground raids to disrupt Hezbollah positions on the Lebanese side of the border, maintaining de facto control without major territorial expansion.^[18] The 2006 Lebanon War, triggered by Hezbollah's cross-border raid outside the Farms but amplified by ongoing Farms skirmishes, saw intensified IDF operations, including airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure near Shebaa and artillery exchanges that damaged local Lebanese villages while aiming to degrade militant launch sites.^[59] Ceasefire under UN Resolution 1701 reduced large-scale clashes, but sporadic incidents persisted, such as the January 28, 2015, Hezbollah anti-tank missile strike on IDF vehicles near Mount Dov (the Israeli name for the Farms' heights), killing two soldiers and prompting Israeli artillery fire killing two Hezbollah operatives.^[60] From October 8, 2023, Hezbollah initiated daily rocket and artillery attacks on IDF positions in the Farms, firing guided munitions at outposts in solidarity with Hamas's October 7 assault on Israel, escalating to hundreds of launches by early 2024 that killed four IDF soldiers and prompted Israeli drone strikes on Hezbollah command posts and retaliatory artillery.^[27] In response, Israel conducted precision airstrikes on over 1,000 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon by mid-2024, including near Shebaa, followed by a September 2024 ground incursion limited to border villages but involving IDF advances to dismantle cross-border tunnels and rocket arrays threatening the Farms.^[61] By October 2024, a US-brokered ceasefire halted major operations, though Israel retained Farms control amid ongoing low-level exchanges into 2025, with reports of Israeli strikes on residual Hezbollah assets causing extensive damage to nearby Lebanese agricultural land and structures.^[62]

The Shebaa Farms Dispute

Description and Strategic Importance

The Shebaa Farms consist of a narrow strip of approximately 22 square kilometers of farmland situated at the tripoint where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights converge.^[63] This area lies along the southwestern slopes of Mount Hermon, extending about 14 kilometers in length and 1 to 3 kilometers in width, encompassing roughly 14 individual farms.^[6] The terrain features rugged mountainsides and steep rocky inclines at elevations ranging from 1,500 to 1,700 meters above sea level, adjacent to the village of Shebaa in Lebanon's Hasbaya District.^[1] Strategically, the Shebaa Farms hold significance due to their elevated position, which offers vantage points overlooking key border regions and potential infiltration routes between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.^[63] The area serves as a hydrological asset, with underground aquifers contributing an estimated 30 to 40 percent of the water flow to Israel's Dan River, making it a factor in regional water resource disputes.^{[64] [65]} Beyond topography and resources, the Farms have assumed outsized symbolic value in the Israel-Lebanon conflict, invoked by Hezbollah since Israel's 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon to justify continued military operations, despite United Nations confirmation that Israel had met its withdrawal obligations under Resolution 425.^[22] This pretext has perpetuated tensions, transforming a tract of limited inherent military utility into a persistent flashpoint for cross-border skirmishes and broader geopolitical maneuvering.^[18]

Historical Evidence and Sovereignty Claims

The Shebaa Farms area, spanning approximately 22 square kilometers along the slopes of Mount Hermon, was administered as part of the Ottoman Damascus vilayet prior to World War I, falling within the territory that became Syria under the French Mandate. In 1920, French authorities established the State of Greater Lebanon, separating it from Syria without a fully demarcated border in the eastern highlands; however, French-produced maps from the 1930s and administrative practices placed the Farms within Syrian jurisdiction. Local farmers, many from the nearby Lebanese village of Shebaa, accessed the land for cultivation, but official records indicate taxes were directed to Syrian entities until Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights in June 1967.^[22][18] Post-independence in 1946, Syria exercised de facto control over the region, consistent with military maps and boundary lines from the 1949 Israel-Syria armistice agreement, which deviated from but referenced earlier Mandate-era demarcations. Lebanon has asserted sovereignty citing private land title deeds registered to Lebanese nationals predating 1967 and an undocumented 1951 administrative transfer from Syria, supplemented by a 1966 Lebanese map depicting the area as its own. These claims contrast with multiple Syrian and international maps, including six Syrian maps (three post-1966) and UN records, that locate the Farms in Syria. Israel regards the territory as an integral part of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981.^[22][3] Syria initially maintained the Farms as its sovereign territory but shifted to endorse Lebanon's claims in the late 1990s, reportedly to perpetuate cross-border resistance without providing corroborating border adjustment documents to the UN. The United Nations, in its May 2000 delineation of the Blue Line for verifying Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon per Resolution 425, classified the Shebaa Farms as lying north of the line within former Syrian-held land, relying on 1974 UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) maps and other cartographic evidence; this assessment did not prejudice potential future Syrian-Lebanese boundary negotiations but underscored the absence of verifiable Lebanese sovereignty indicators at the time.^[66][22][67]

Perspectives from Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and UN

Israel maintains that the Shebaa Farms constitute part of the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed by Israel in 1981 via the Golan Heights Law.^[22] Israeli officials argue that the area falls outside Lebanese sovereignty based on historical French Mandate-era maps submitted by Lebanon and Syria to the United Nations, which delineated the farms as Syrian.^[68] Israel further contends that no formal Lebanese claim was asserted prior to its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, and the farms' retention serves security purposes amid ongoing threats from Hezbollah.^[28] Lebanon asserts sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms, citing Ottoman administrative records and local practices such as tax payments to Beirut authorities and issuance of Lebanese identity cards to residents during the mid-20th century.^[15] Lebanese officials, including those aligned with Hezbollah, elevated the claim prominently after Israel's 2000 withdrawal, portraying the farms as occupied Lebanese land to justify continued armed resistance, despite the United Nations' certification that Israel had fulfilled Resolution 425 obligations excluding the area. This perspective frames the dispute as a barrier to full Israeli disengagement, with Hezbollah leveraging it strategically to maintain operational legitimacy against Israel.^[28] Syria's position has evolved; historically, it endorsed Lebanon's claims to the farms as a tactical alignment against Israel, despite French Mandate maps placing the area within Syrian boundaries.^[18] More recently, following political shifts in Damascus by 2025, Syrian authorities under Ahmed al-Sharaa have reasserted the farms as sovereign Syrian territory, diverging from prior support for Lebanon and aligning with cartographic evidence from the Mandate period.^[69] This stance has fueled discussions of potential Israeli transfer of the area to Syria in exchange for recognition of Israeli control over the broader Golan Heights.^[70] The United Nations regards the Shebaa Farms as Syrian territory under Israeli occupation since 1967, based on boundary delineations in maps provided by Lebanon and Syria during the 2000 withdrawal verification process.^[22] UNIFIL and Security Council resolutions, such as 1701 (2006), urge delineation of the Israel-Lebanon border including the farms but defer sovereignty resolution to the parties involved, rejecting Lebanese evidentiary submissions for lack of supporting documentation.^[71] The UN has emphasized that the dispute does not alter its 2000 finding of Israeli compliance with withdrawal from Lebanon proper, while calling for diplomatic efforts to prevent its exploitation in regional conflicts.^[3]

Role in Justifying Militant Actions and Implications for Peace

Hezbollah has invoked the purported Israeli occupation of Shebaa Farms as a primary rationale for sustaining its military presence and launching cross-border attacks, framing such actions as legitimate "resistance" against territorial infringement.^[72] Following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, certified by the United Nations as compliant with Resolution 425 up to the Blue Line, Hezbollah initiated operations in the Shebaa area on May 21, 2000, to contest Israeli positions there and assert Lebanese sovereignty claims.^[18] This narrative enabled the group to maintain its arsenal and operational freedom within Lebanon, circumventing domestic disarmament pressures by portraying militancy as a defensive necessity tied to unresolved border issues rather than broader ideological aims.^[72][3] The dispute has served as a casus belli for escalated confrontations, including Hezbollah's 2006 cross-border raid—though conducted outside Shebaa—that precipitated the Second Lebanon War, with leaders citing incomplete withdrawal and prisoner exchanges as intertwined justifications.^[18] In recent years, amid the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and subsequent Gaza conflict, Hezbollah has intensified strikes on Israeli positions in Shebaa Farms, such as rocket barrages on December 3, 2024, explicitly to deter Israeli advances and signal solidarity, thereby perpetuating a cycle of retaliation that has displaced tens of thousands on both sides.^[73][55] Analysts note that this pretext, amplified by Syrian and Lebanese governmental assertions despite historical maps indicating Syrian jurisdiction, allows Hezbollah to align local grievances with transnational militancy, sustaining recruitment and Iranian backing under the guise of national defense.^[3][18] For peace prospects, the Shebaa Farms issue obstructs comprehensive border demarcation and normalization, as its resolution—potentially via Syrian confirmation of pre-1967 boundaries or Lebanese concessions—could undermine Hezbollah's core "resistance" doctrine, which relies on perpetual occupation claims to justify autonomy from state control.^[22] U.S.-mediated talks, including those preceding the 2022 maritime deal, have stalled on land boundaries partly due to Hezbollah's veto power, with the group leveraging Shebaa to derail agreements that might enforce demilitarization south of the Litani River per Resolution 1701.^[74][28] While demarcating the area might reduce immediate flashpoints and facilitate economic cooperation, such as gas field development, entrenched militant interests suggest it would not eliminate broader threats, as Hezbollah has invoked Palestinian causes independently; unresolved, it risks sporadic escalations derailing fragile ceasefires, as evidenced by the collapse of northern border understandings in October 2023.^[18][55][22]