Alerts

Hizbullah Claims Seven Villages in Northern Galilee Are Part of Lebanon

Hizbullah justifies its right to have an armed militia so that it can “liberate” Lebanese land
Share this
Map of seven Shiite villages inside the British Mandate for Palestine
This pre-1948 map showed the locations of seven Shiite villages inside the British Mandate for Palestine. (Zero0000/CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)

Table of Contents

On May 25, 2000, Israel withdrew its troops from its self-proclaimed security zone in South Lebanon under the pressure of Hizbullah’s guerrilla attrition warfare. Twenty-four years after the zone’s establishment, Israel decided that redeploying along its international border with Lebanon could potentially put an end to its military confrontation with Hizbullah, the Shiite Iranian-directed militia. Indeed, after consultation with the UN and in accordance with the agreed coordinates, Israel retreated to what is called the “Blue Line.”

The three places Israel decided not to withdraw from were the Rosh Hanikra tunnel crossing (registered as belonging to the state of Lebanon and recorded in the Lebanese land registrar under the file number 28/Naqoura), the Ghajar village, and the Shab’ah farms in the eastern part of the border between Israel and Lebanon. Israel claimed that these last two were not part of Lebanon since, according to the United Nations, cartographers, and historical research, they were part of southern Syria. They were conquered during the Six-Day War in June 1967.

Hizbullah, in concert with the Lebanese government, refused to recognize the Israeli claim.

However, Hizbullah did not put this issue high on its agenda and concentrated on planning an invasion of Israeli territory, a plan that was copied to the letter by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and applied on October 7, 2023. Note the Hizbullah motorcycle invasion tactic, pictured below, which was copied by Hamas fighters. Hizbullah chose to invest in preparations for confrontation with Israel and, inter alia, in digging attack tunnels that were to reach deep inside Israeli territory, tunnels which were uncovered by Israel in 2019 and sealed with tons of concrete.

Hizbullah’s war games exercises in southern Lebanon on May 21, 2023.
The general media was invited to observe Hizbullah’s war games exercises in southern Lebanon on May 21, 2023. (Hanna Davis, Twitter)

The issue of the seven villages resurfaced during the negotiations on the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel. Hizbullah presented itself as the protector of Lebanese interests and stressed the fact that there were 13 points of contention with Israel in which Israel had supposedly appropriated Lebanese territory. In the months that elapsed, Hizbullah’s rhetoric grew more aggressive towards Israel. It even went further by claiming that there was no reason to negotiate the delimitation of the land border since there was already an internationally recognized international border drawn in 1923.

In the course of the exchanges and especially following Hizbullah leaders’ declarations, it appeared that Hizbullah, emboldened by its unanswered provocations against Israel, raised another issue that was never put on focus in the past: Hizbullah claimed that not only did Ghajar and the Shab’ah farms belong to Lebanon and were under Israeli “occupation,” but, Israel had destroyed seven Shia villages in the northern part of the Galilee, whose residents had been deported or chased from their homes in the course of the 1948 war and never came back. Those seven villages had been initially part of Lebanon under the French mandate. In a later agreement between the mandatory powers, France and Great Britain, the villages were included in British-controlled mandatory Palestine, although their residents maintained their Lebanese citizenship.

British and French frontier posts on the Galilee-Damascus highway in northern Galilee (Library of Congress, circa 1925)
A 1937 aerial view of the Galilee-Damascus Road showing British and French frontier posts
The former French frontier post at the Jisr Benat Yacoub (Gesher B’not Yaakov) Jordan River crossing. A 1937 aerial view of the Galilee-Damascus Road showing British and French frontier posts. (Library of Congress)

According to Khalil Gemayel, a Lebanese general who was responsible for the southern Lebanese command, there were another 24 villages that were taken from Lebanon and attached to mandatory Palestine, but the residents did not carry a Lebanese ID, which is the reason why the Lebanese authorities and Hizbullah have mentioned only the seven villages.1

Indeed, following the 1949 armistice agreement between Lebanon and Israel, the Lebanese government accepted the demarcation of the borders between Lebanon and mandatory Palestine as drawn in 1923 (Paulet-Newcombe agreement on the delimitation of the border between Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine). Accordingly, Lebanon relinquished its claim to those seven villages, which remained under Israeli sovereignty.

A hundred years later, Hizbullah has positioned itself as the champion of those displaced residents and substituted itself for the Lebanese government; it has been demanding the restitution of those villages, even at the cost of a military confrontation with Israel.

What Are the Seven Villages?

  1. Hounine – today’s Margaliot
  2. Qadas – today’s Yiftah
  3. Al-Nabi Yosha’- today’s Metsoudat Koach /Metsoudat Yesha’
  4. Ibl el-Kamh – today’s Kfar Youval
  5. Tayr Bikha – today’s Shomera
  6. Salha – today’s Yir’on
  7. Al-Malekiyya – today’s Malkiyya

It is no coincidence that the attack tunnels dug by Hizbullah faced areas close or adjacent to those “seven villages” since Hizbullah’s proclaimed aim was to “liberate” the Galilee and to restore those areas “stolen by the Zionists” to Lebanese sovereignty.

* * *

Note

  1. Natasha Metni Torbey, En Israel, sept villages libanais annexes, ici Beyrouth, 16 Fevrier 2024, https://icibeyrouth.com/liban/315303↩︎

Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah

Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, a special analyst for the Middle East at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.
Share this

Invest in JCFA

Subscribe to Daily Alert

The Daily Alert – Israel news digest appears every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Related Items

Stay Informed, Always

Get the latest news, insights, and updates directly in your inbox—be the first to know!

Subscribe to Jerusalem Issue Briefs
The Daily Alert – Israel news digest appears every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Notifications

The Jerusalem Center
The Gaza Flotilla Is a Fraud

Far from a humanitarian mission, the latest 70-vessel spectacle on its way to Gaza from Italy is a costly act of political theater @FiammaNirenste1 @JNS_org

11:28am
The Jerusalem Center
The Assassination of Abu Obeida – Why Is Hamas Remaining Silent?

Senior Israeli security officials note that such silence is not new; Hamas often delays its statements following targeted Israeli assassinations, raising questions whether this stems from attempts to verify the information or from a deliberate strategy of ambiguity https://x.com/jerusalemcenter

11:25am
The Jerusalem Center
The Impact of Radical Legal Ideology: From the Classroom to the International Forum

Massive funding of Critical Legal Studies-style academic and extracurricular programs promotes anti-Western ideas and undermines international community institutions and legal conventions https://x.com/jerusalemcenter

11:23am
The Jerusalem Center
Western Countries Focus on Iran Technicalities, Ignore Ideological Bent

The West must look beyond nuclear “offsides” and confront the core issue: a regime in decline, anchored to a dying leader, ruling over a weary population hungry for change x.com/jerusalemcenter

11:19am
The Jerusalem Center
Israel, Gaza, and the Race Against Time

The Trump proposal to create a 10-year trusteeship levels the playing field and provides an opportunity for the Egyptians to open its border with Gaza @Dan_Diker

11:15am
The Jerusalem Center
Canada investigating Israeli-Canadian IDF soldiers?
JCFA senior researcher, Amb. Alan Baker slams the probe as a “political PR stunt with no legal basis.” “This isn’t justice—it’s a betrayal. Canada is siding with PLO propaganda over facts.”
11:29am
The Jerusalem Center
What makes a child believe killing a #Jew is justified?

In PA textbooks, Jews are called liars and frauds; their fate: elimination. This is #indoctrination—not #education. But change is happening. On East to West, @IMPACT_SE CEO Marcus Sheff exposes how #UNRWA-funded schools are fueling extremism—and what real reform looks like.  Listen now on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2JHqh973U  Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/8OkJTGNfVUc

11:43am
The Jerusalem Center
Highlights from the @Jerusalem_Post Annual Conference in NYC:

Dr. @Dan_Diker, President of the JCFA: “October 7 wasn’t just an attack on Israel — it was a blow to the U.S. on Israeli soil. It demands moral clarity and a united front between Israel and the U.S. to defeat jihadist terror.”

2:20pm
The Jerusalem Center
@XAVIAERD says it like it is

Well, @XAVIAERD says it like it is: If you’re part of “#Queers for #Palestine,” he’ll pay for your flight to #Gaza. Go see for yourself how they treat LGBTQ+ people over there. Don’t miss this bold take on the Israel-Hamas war and the woke right.

2:32pm
The Jerusalem Center
“This isn’t Israel vs. Hamas — it’s the frontline of the free world.”

“This isn’t Israel vs. Hamas — it’s the frontline of the free world.” On Our Middle East by @JNS_org, @Dan_Diker@KhaledAbuToameh (JCFA/@GatestoneInst) break it down: If Hamas isn’t crushed, Iran wins. The jihadis—from #Gaza to your campus—get the green light. Diker: “This war is for the West.” No fluff. No filters. Just raw insight from two insiders who actually know what’s going on.  Watch: youtu.be/4Aq_zcbb4Yo

2:15pm
The Jerusalem Center
5/5 Lt. Col. Kalo on East to West with @smartinezamir:

“This operation showcases Israel’s strategic intelligence superiority both regionally and globally. It demonstrates the moral commitment to recovered soldiers and also strengthens Israel’s position with allies.” youtube.com/watch?v=nIvNNi

2:07pm
The Jerusalem Center
4/5 The operation built on intelligence gathered during the 2019 #Baumel recovery

#Mossad agents operated under cover in #Syria for years, visiting a graveyard multiple times under fire to collect remains for DNA matching. The intelligence community’s evolution combines technology, big data analysis, and human intelligence capabilities.

2:02pm

Close