Bordering Israel, Syria and Lebanon, the status of this 25 sq. km stretch of land, consisting of 14 farms named after a nearby village, remains controversial. Israel occupied the Sheba’a Farms after the War of 1967. Following Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 after a nearly two-decade long military presence,  Hezbollah and Lebanon, backed by Syria, demanded that Israel also pull out from the Sheba’a Farms. Israel, however, claimed the territory was part of Syria, and thus could only be turned over as part of negotiations with Syria. The maps of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon sided with Israel, showing that the strip of land was part of Syria at the time of the War of 1967. See Kumaraswamy, P.R. “Sheba’a Farms.” Historical Dictionary of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, 2006; and “In Focus: Shebaa Farms.” 25 May 2000. BBC. 24 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/763504.stm.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/sheba’-farms