One piece of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon concerns the rich farmland of Shebaa Farms, a piece of land about 14 k long that Lebanon claims belongs to it. The piece borders Syria, another claimant to its bounty, as well as Israel, and has been occupied by Israel even after its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
The fruitfulness of the land is well known. One farmer's wife quoted in an April 2005 story by Aljazeera said this:
"Wheat, lentils, chickpeas, apples, cherries, olive, pears, grapes ... we used to grow everything. The land there was so fertile it could feed my entire family throughout the year."
But its real value to those in the region is in its water. The farms of Shebaa are on the northwestern slope of Mount Hermon, considered the source of several vital rivers and springs.
As the Aljazeera piece reports, '"The amount of groundwater which moves across the border to Israel from the Lebanese side in an average year is 200 million cubic metres, most of which comes from the Hermon sector, including the Shebaa Farms," says Hussain Rammal, the head of a technical department at the Litani River Authority.'
This writeup from the Shebaa Farms Foundation explains their version of the conflict.
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