Change doesn't simplify life in Israeli border town

ISRAELI - OCCUPIED GHAJAR -There's no line marking the divide between north and south Ghajar, a village that straddles Israel's northern border with Lebanon, but soon there could be an international border between the two parts, thanks to Israel's decision to accept a United Nations demarcation line.

For the 2,200 ethnic Syrian inhabitants - who carry Israeli passports - long at the nexus of one of the region's most complicated territorial disputes, life is about to become still more complicated.

Israel is giving the northern half to the UN peacekeeping force, while retaining the southern part, which according to all maps belongs to Syria.

"We are between three countries with complicated relationships, so we suffer," said Bader Bader, 30, who lives in a half-built house on the northern tip of Ghajar. He's been trying to build his home for six years.

A long, single-lane road separates Ghajar from the nearby Israeli city of Kiriyat Shmona, but Israeli soldiers, from a checkpoint outside Ghajar, monitor the comings and goings of the villagers. From their outpost, the soldiers said they can see well into Israel, Lebanon and Syria - the three countries to which the villagers are all tied.

Since 1967, when Israel wrested control of the Golan Heights from Syria, Ghajar's fate has been left to the complexities of Middle East diplomacy.

Maps originally put Ghajar entirely on the Syrian side of the border, but 10 years ago a UN cartographer ruled that the southern side of the village is on the Syrian side (now controlled by Israel), while the northern portion is in Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced to the UN on Tuesday that Israel would take steps to hand over the northern half to UN control. Residents of Ghajar, caught by surprise, said they feel like pawns in the hands of regional powers.

Bader has collected armfuls of building requests and canceled receipts, but he can't complete his house. "All I want to do is build a house, but nothing is simple," he said. "It is like living in a no man's land. Nobody wants to take responsibility for us."