Grazing Cows Lead to Squabble on Lebanese-Israeli Border

A shepherd herds cows in the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border | © Reuters/AZIZ TAHER
A shepherd herds cows in the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border | © Reuters/AZIZ TAHER
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Grazing Cows Lead to Squabble on Lebanese-Israeli Border

A shepherd herds cows in the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border | © Reuters/AZIZ TAHER
A shepherd herds cows in the village of Wazzani, near the Lebanese-Israeli border | © Reuters/AZIZ TAHER

Lebanese cattle herders from a village close to the border with Israel said several of their cows, which have grazed freely in the area for decades, were taken by Israeli soldiers, in what could become a new dispute between the two countries.

The herders from the border village of Wazzani say Israeli patrols crossed into a grey zone on Sunday between a technical fence that separates the two countries and the 'Blue Line' that constitutes the internationally recognized border and started rounding up livestock, taking seven cows.

Lebanon and Israel are still in a formal state of war and have long contested their land and maritime borders.

"For twenty years and more these cows are there, from the time of the grandparents of our grandparents and this is the first time that someone takes them," villager Kamal al-Ahmad, who lost three cows in the incident, told Reuters.

"I don't know if they did this as a challenge or what?"

A cow is worth around $2,000, meaning the loss of an animal is no small matter to the farmers who are already living through the tough reality of Lebanon's ongoing financial crisis.

The area near a river where the Wazzani cows graze is only around 200 meters away from Israel.

The two countries disagree over a border wall Israel started building in 2018.

A UN peacekeeping force monitors the boundary since Israel's military withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation.

"We are aware of the alleged incident and we are in touch with both parties in relation to this issue," the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) spokesperson Andrea Tenenti, told Reuters by phone.

The two countries are also in a maritime dispute over an area in the sea on the edge of three Lebanese offshore energy blocks.

"God help these people, this is their livelihood," Ahmad al-Mohammed, the head of the Wazzani municipality, said of the herders.

Not far from Wazzani, in another border village called Mais al-Jabal, local teenager Hussein Chartouni complained earlier of the loss of one of his chickens to Israel - earning him the nickname in the village of 'Chicken Hussein'.

When one of his chickens wandered off behind the border barbed wire, it was snatched and never returned he said.

"I want my chicken," he told Reuters, using the phrase that has now become a hashtag on Twitter.



Clerics Accuse West Bank Israeli Settlers of Attacking Christian Sites

Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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Clerics Accuse West Bank Israeli Settlers of Attacking Christian Sites

Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)

Christian leaders accused Israeli settlers on Monday of attacking sacred sites in the West Bank, in violence that one said was forcing some to consider quitting the occupied territory.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III - visiting the Christian town of Taybeh with other Jerusalem-based clerics - said settlers had started a fire near a cemetery and a 5th century church there last week.

"These actions are a direct and intentional threat to our local community ... but also to the historic and religious heritage," the patriarch told diplomats and journalists at a press conference in Taybeh.

Settlers had also attacked homes in the area, he said.

"We call for an immediate and transparent investigation on why the Israeli police did not respond to emergency calls from the local community and why these abhorrent actions continue to go unpunished," he added.

Israel's government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Israel's government had previously said that any acts of violence by civilians are unacceptable and that individuals should not take the law into their own hands.

During the visit, the heads of the churches led locals in prayer as candles flickered in the ruins of the 5th century church of St George. They spoke with residents who described their fears.

B'Tselem and other rights groups say settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023.

Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks in recent years and the Israeli military has intensified raids across the West Bank.

Palestinian health authorities and witnesses said two men, including a US citizen, were killed by settlers during a confrontation on Friday night.

Fears over violence were pushing Christians to leave the West Bank, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020, said.

"Unfortunately, the temptation to emigrate is there because of the situation," he added. "This time it's very difficult to see how and when this will finish, and especially for the youth to talk about hope, trust for the future."

Around 50,000 Christian Palestinians live in Jerusalem and in the West Bank, an area that includes many of the faith's most sacred sites including Bethlehem where believers say Jesus was born.

Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, which Palestinians see as part of a future state.