Ghajar (, or ) is an Alawite-Arab village on the Hasbani River, on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of Syria's Golan Heights. In , it had a population of . History Early history Control over Ghajar has changed hands many times. Three hundred years ago, the village was known as Taranjeh. It was renamed Ghajar under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, when the land was allegedly seized from the "villagers" by Kurds and forcibly sold. According to "local" legend, the Kurdish governor of Ghajar tried to ride his horse onto the tomb of a local holy man, Sheikh al-Arba'in. The horse refused and the following day a fire broke out, destroying the governor's shield and sword. The Kurds fled and quickly sold it back. Modern era In 1932, the residents of Ghajar, predominantly Alawites, were given the option of choosing their nationality and overwhelmingly chose to be a part of Syria, which has a sizable Alawite minority. Prior to the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, Ghajar was considered part of Syria and its residents were counted in the 1960 Syrian census. When Israel occupied the Golan Heights after capturing it from Syria in 1967, Ghajar remained a no-man's land for two and a half months. The Alawi villagers petitioned the Golan's Israeli governor to be attached to the occupied territory, as part of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, rather than Lebanon, because they considered themselves to be Syrians, like the majority of the native residents of the Golan at that time. Israel agreed to include Ghajar in its occupied territory of the Syrian Golan Heights. 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. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. In 2000, following the campaign promise and