{{Short description|Municipality in Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon}} {{Distinguish|Shebaa farms|Shabaa}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Shebaa | native_name = شبعا | native_name_lang = ar<!-- ISO 639-2 code: "fr" for French, "ara" for Arabic --> | settlement_type = Municipality | image_skyline = File:Chebaa.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Shebaa in 1998 | pushpin_map = Lebanon | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = Map showing the location of Kfarhamam within Lebanon | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Lebanon | coordinates = {{coord|33|20|55|N|35|44|55|E|region:LB_type:city|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flagcountry|Lebanon}} | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Nabatieh Governorate | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Hasbaya District | established_title = <!-- Founded --> | established_date = | founder = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_min_m = | elevation_max_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_note = | timezone1 = EET | utc_offset1 = +2 | timezone1_DST = EEST | utc_offset1_DST = +3 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = | area_code_type = Dialing code | area_code = +961 | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Shebaa''' ({{langx|ar|شبعا|Shibʿā}}) is a municipality on the south-eastern tip of Lebanon. It has a largely Sunni Muslim population of 25,000 people. It is situated at an altitude of approximately {{cvt|1700|metres}} above sea level, spreading across two steep rocky mountainsides.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Nour Samaha|title=The strange case of Lebanon's Shebaa|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/07/20137218585519150.html|accessdate=12 June 2015|work=Al Jazeera|date=2 Jul 2013}}</ref> It lies adjacent to the Lebanese claimed but Israeli occupied Shebaa farms—which sit between the town and the Golan Heights.<ref>{{cite book|author1-link=Krista E. Wiegand|author1=Saady Wiegand|title=Enduring Territorial Disputes: Strategies of Bargaining, Coercive Diplomacy, and Settlement|date=2011|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=9780820337388|page=146|edition=illustrated}}</ref> Before 1967, residents of Shebaa farmed in the disputed Shebaa farms territory.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Krista Eileen Wiegand|title=Enduring Territorial Disputes: Strategies of Bargaining, Coercive Diplomacy, and Settlement|date=2011|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=9780820337388|pages=157–8|edition=illustrated}}</ref>
thumb|Shebaa shown in an early 20th-century German map
==History== [[File:Chebaa Hasbaiya stencil cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Chebaa, in the 1880s<ref>Wilson, 1881, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/picturesquepales02wilsuoft#page/129/mode/1up 129]</ref>]] In 1838, Eli Smith noted Shebaa's population as being Sunni Muslim and Greek Orthodox Christians.<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/138/mode/1up 138]</ref>
Following the 1982 Lebanon War, Shebaa became part of Israel’s security zone with Norwegian soldiers from UNIFIL stationed in the area. On one night in late January 1989, the Israeli backed SLA expelled 40 villagers, ordering them not to return. This brought the total over a period of several months to around 80. In the words of the UNIFIL spokesperson those expelled were “mostly women and children”.<ref>Middle East International No 346, 17 March 1989, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Jim Muir p.8</ref> Israel withdrew from South Lebanon, including the town of Shebaa, in 2000.
As of 2025, the town housed 4,500 Syrian refugees.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Samya Kullab|author2=Ghinwa Obeid|title=Shebaa, the town caught in the middle|archive-date=2015-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319165303/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Feb-27/288953-shebaa-the-town-caught-in-the-middle.ashx |url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Feb-27/288953-shebaa-the-town-caught-in-the-middle.ashx|accessdate=12 June 2015|work=The Daily Star|date=27 Feb 2015}}</ref>
The Israel Defense Forces have frequently operated and conducted operations in the village during the 2024 Lebanon war<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.idf.il/%D7%90%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%99-%D7%99%D7%97%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%94/%D7%9B%D7%9C-%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%94%D7%A4%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%97%D7%93%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%9E%D7%A4%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9D-%D7%9C%D7%91%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%9F/ |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=www.idf.il}}</ref> and the 2026 Lebanon war<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026 |title=מנהל מחלבת עזים: כך חשף צה"ל פעיל חיזבאללה בכפר סוני בלבנון |url=https://www.maariv.co.il/breaking-news/article-1304916 |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=www.maariv.co.il |language=he}}</ref>.
==Demographics== In 2014, Muslims made up 96.96% and Christians made up 2.89% of registered voters in Shebaa. 92.99% of the voters were Sunni Muslims. The Christian population is mostly Greek Orthodox.<ref> {{Cite web |title=التوزيع حسب المذاهب للناخبين/ناخبات في بلدة شبعا، قضاء حاصبيا محافظة النبطية في لبنان |url=https://lub-anan.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7/%D8%B4%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%A7/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A8/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=إعْرَفْ لبنان |language=en}} </ref>
==Educational establishments== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Educational establishments !! Chebaa (Hasbaiya) (2005–2006) !! Lebanon (2005–2006) |- | Number of schools || 4 || 2788 |- | Public schools || 2 || 1763 |- | Private schools || 2 || 1025 |- | Students in public schools || 435 || 439905 |- | Students in private schools || 145 || 471409 |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|authorlink1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|authorlink2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838| location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}} *{{cite book |editor =Wilson, C.W.|editor-link=Charles William Wilson |title= Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt |url=https://archive.org/details/picturesquepales02wilsuoft |volume=2 |year=c. 1881|publisher= D. Appleton |location=New York}} {{refend}}
==External links== * Localliban: Centre de resource sur le developpement local: [http://www.localiban.org/spip.php?article4293 www.localiban.org]
{{Hasbaya District}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000 Category:Populated places in Hasbaya District Category:Sunni Muslim communities in Lebanon