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Ghajar (, or ), also Rhadjar, is an Alawite-Arab village on the Hasbani River, on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights. The name of the village means "gypsy" in Arabic. As of , it had a population of , most of whom consider themselves Syrian but have Israeli ID cards. The Blue Line divides Ghajar between Lebanon and the Golan Heights, although Israel has occupied the entire village since 2006. Israel considers it a part of its Northern District, in which its southern part is organized as a local council in the Golan Subdistrict.
In 1981, most Alawi villagers were pressured by authorities into Israeli citizenship under the Golan Heights Law which annexed the occupied Syrian territory to Israel, but the unilateral annexation was not recognized by the international community. After Operation Litani in 1978, Israel turned over its positions inside Lebanon to the South Lebanon Army and inaugurated its Good Fence policy. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created after the incursion, following the adoption of Security Council Resolution 425 in March 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, restore international peace and security, and help the government of Lebanon restore its effective authority in the area. Ghajar expanded northward into Lebanese territory, subsuming the Wazzani settlement north of the border. "A New Fence Is Added to a Border Town Already Split". The New York Times. 11 October 2006.
In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. In 2000, following the campaign promise and election of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister, Israel withdrew their troops from Lebanon. In an attempt to demarcate permanent borders between Israel and Lebanon, the United Nations drew up what became known as the Blue Line. Due to Ghajar's location, wedged between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the northern half of the village came under Lebanese control and the southern part remained under Israeli occupation.
Despite the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, tension mounted as Hezbollah made attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers in the Ghajar area. In 2005, Hezbollah launched a missile on Ghajar and infiltrated it, but withdrew after being repelled by the Israelis. Following another attack in July 2006, Israel invaded southern Lebanon and re-occupied the northern half of Ghajar during the 2006 Lebanon War. Following a month of intense fighting, UNSC Resolution 1701 was unanimously approved to resolve the conflict, and it was accepted by combatants on both sides. Among other things, the resolution demanded the full cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the disarming of Hezbollah, the deployment of Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers, and the establishment of full control by the government of Lebanon.
In November 2010, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the UN Secretary General of Israeli intentions to unilaterally withdraw from Ghajar, after failing to come to an agreement with Lebanon "Israel to withdraw from village on Lebanon border".Ravid, Barak "Lieberman: Israel will quit Lebanon town unilaterally due to Hezbollah refusal to cooperate." Haaretz, 7 November 2010 and place security matters into the hands of UNIFIL. "Cabinet set to approve unilateral withdrawal from Ghajar". On 17 November 2010, Security Cabinet of Israel voted in favor of withdrawal from northern half of Ghajar. "Israel approves unilateral pullout from Lebanon border town". Residents of Ghajar objected to division of the village.
As the Syrian Civil War erupted, Israel halted redeployment along the border. Israel continues to occupy the whole village and land adjacent to it which crosses the Blue Line. Disputed Alawite village caught between Israel, Hezbollah "Implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) during the period from 21 February to 20 June 2023" (PDF). UN Security Council Resolutions. 13 July 2023.
In its October 2007 report on the implementation of the resolution, the United Nations issued a report stating that discussions on the duration of temporary security arrangements for northern Ghajar remained deadlocked. Israel remains in control north of the Blue Line and the small adjacent area inside Lebanese territory, although it does not maintain a permanent military presence there. The Lebanese Armed Forces patrol the road outside the perimeter fence. The report notes "so long as the Israel Defense Forces remain in northern Ghajar, Israel will not have completed its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in accordance with its obligations under resolution 1701 (2006)." It further notes: "Failure to make progress on this issue could become a source of tension and carry the potential for incidents in the future." UN Security Council document S/2007/641 , paragraphs 16 and 71
Asher Kaufman, a researcher from the University of Notre Dame, has disputed the Blue Line. Writing in Haaretz, he says there has never been an exact boundary agreed for Ghajar, citing conflicting maps and "sketches made by the US Embassy in Beirut". He says the village was incorrectly divided into two based on the assumption there were two villages: Ghajar in the south and Wazzani in the north, but that the latter "never really existed" in that location.
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