Lebanon's Shebaa Farms remain a point of contention

Oct 27, 2007, 10:58 GMT

Shebaa, Lebanon - The disputed Shebaa Farms area looks set to remain a point of contention following Israel's rejection of a suggestion to bring it under UN jurisdiction, according to media reports and well-informed sources.

The tiny enclave, located where the borders of the three nations meet, has been controlled by Israel since the Jewish state's 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

The United Nations has said in the past that Shebaa is Syrian territory, captured by Israel in the 1967 war: Syria and Lebanon maintain that it is Lebanese land.

However now UN mapping experts have determined that that the farms are Lebanese territory and that international law requires Israel's withdrawal, according to a well-informed UN source in Lebanon.

Work carried out by UN cartographer Miklos Pinter on demarcating the size of the Shebaa Farms is reportedly to be included in an upcoming UN report. The report, due end October, is set to assess implementation of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Lebanon war between Israel and the Shiite Hezbollah movement.

According to a Lebanese government source, the UN last month suggested to Israel that the Shebaa Farms be placed under UN jurisdiction once agreement is reached with Jerusalem.

The UN's Lebanon envoy Geir Pederson is said to have informed Israeli officials that 'that the UN believes that there is merit in the Lebanese claims of sovereignty over Shebaa Farms.'

However the comments have angered Israeli officials who have said they will strengthen the position of Hezbollah, which insists that the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese territory and has fought against Israeli forces there.

Israeli daily Haaretz reported Friday that Pedersen, during a recent meeting with senior Israeli Defence Ministry official Amos Gilad, said that the evidence boosts the Lebanese claims that Shebaa is Lebanese.

'It may be advisable for Israel to agree to separate negotiations with the government of Lebanon on the Shebaa Farms to resolve the issue,' the newspaper quoted Pedersen as saying.

Gilad turned down the proposal, saying: 'We will not agree to resolving this issue separately. Every agreement with Lebanon will be part of a single package.'

According to the UN source, Pedersen wrote in his report to UN headquarters that Israeli officials, including Gilad, were critical of Pinter's work, claiming it had 'technical mistakes'.

Pedersen's office in Beirut declined to comment to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on the matter, saying only that the UN envoy would not speak on the Shebaa issue until publication of the report on resolution 1701.

Meanwhile, overlooking the Shebaa Farms itself, Lebanese villagers still show visitors their deeds to land in the area.

One such villager is 87-year-old farmer Mohammed Hashem, who points to the plot he claims to own, but which he cannot reach or plant.

'Look at the lush land over there ... it is only few steps from where we are standing,' Hashem said as he surveyed a piece of land under an Israeli post in Shebaa.

'I know they (Israeli soldiers) are watching us, but I will always come here with journalists,' he said. 'We have the resistance (Hezbollah) that will return our land to us one day.'

'Hezbollah has said from the beginning that Shebaa is Lebanese and if the UN decides they are Lebanese, this will enhance our position,' said Lebanese MP Kassem Hashem, a Shebaa native and close ally of Hezbollah. 'Such a claim by the UN will give the issue international legitimacy.'

According to military analyst Elias Hanna, Israel is concerned that any UN ruling in favour of the Lebanese claim to Shebaa 'will boost Hezbollah's popularity among the Lebanese.'

'Israeli officials think by bowing to the UN demand to withdraw from Shebaa they would be granting another victory to Hezbollah,' Hanna added.

Complicating the issue further, many political observers in Lebanon believe the US might push Israel to withdraw from Shebaa if the UN requests it.

This may be seen as a boost to the Western-backed government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora, and a possible step towards Lebanon recovering from the deep political crisis that has paralyzed the country since November 2006.

Six pro-Syrian ministers resigned from the Seniora government last November, demanding a national unity government with veto power granted to the Hezbollah-led opposition.

For the past 10 months, Hezbollah have led a sit-in in downtown Beirut, demanding the resignation of the Sunni-led, Western-backed government.

Israel will not be able 'to resist the pressures from its close ally the US and will eventually accept returning Shebaa to the Lebanese,' Hanna said, adding however that the territory was likely to be first placed under UN control.