Lebanese Mohammad Hammudi hasn't seen his home village in the disputed Shebaa Farms since it was occupied by Israel more than 40 years ago, but says he remembers every nook and cranny.

"I know every inch of the Farms because I covered every one of them when I was a teenager. How can they say that they are not Lebanese," asked 56-year-old Hammudi, whose family fled after Israel seized the territory during the 1967 Middle East war.

The tiny sliver of lush land 25 square kilometres (10 square miles) across is located at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and northern Israel. Israel seized the Farms from Syria at the same time it captured the nearby Golan Heights, which it later annexed.

Ever since, the Farms have been caught in a tug-of-war over ownership. Lebanon claims them, with the backing of Damascus, while Israel says they are part of Syria.

The simmering dispute is now back in the international spotlight after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during a visit to Beirut on Monday, called for an end to the standoff.

"The United States believes that the time has come to deal with the Shebaa Farms issue... in accordance with (UN Security Council Resolution) 1701," Rice said after discussing it with Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

Resolution 1701 brought an end to a devastating 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in summer 2006 and called for the UN secretary general to propose a border demarcation for the Shebaa Farms.

Hammudi is now an official with the Shebaa Farms "municipality-in-exile," which runs an office in the nearby Lebanese village of Shebaa.

"We are optimists. It is the first time that attention has been seriously focused on the issue," Hammudi said of Rice's comments.

For Hammudi and other people from Shebaa Farms, there is no doubt that the stretch of land belongs to Lebanon, even if Israel disagrees.

"Our farms, our land and our animals used to be our lifeblood," Hammudi said.

"There are thousands of people originally from Shebaa who own properties in the Farms," Hammudi said, adding they had documentation to support the claims, some of which dated back to the Ottoman period.

Israel occupied southern Lebanon for nearly 20 years until withdrawing its troops in 2000, but it remained in the Shebaa Farms. The United Nations ruled that the withdrawal from Lebanon was complete and that the Farms were Syrian. It has not revisited the issue despite protests from Beirut.

In March 2008, Lebanese geographer Issam Khalif published a report replete with documents he said proved the Farms were Lebanese, including a 1946 deal in which Damascus recognised Lebanon's sovereignty over the territory.

A Lebanese source close to the issue told AFP that minutes from the meetings held between Lebanese and Syrian officials in 1946 have been translated and sent to the United Nations and the superpowers.

Attached to the report was a map with 48 border markers but Syria refused to let the paperwork be sent to the United Nations, a crucial step in recognition of an international border, Khalif told AFP.

"Syria wants to use the Shebaa Farms as a pawn in negotiations to recover the Golan Heights," Hammudi said.

And last week, newly elected Lebanese President Michel Sleiman also spoke of "new documents which proved the Lebanese ownership of the Shebaa Farms."

Confusion over the borders dates back to 1923 when Britain and France, who held League of Nations mandates over the territories now comprising Israel, Lebanon and Syria failed to clearly outline their borders.

"I would really love to go there," said Ali Nabaa, an electrician in his 30s. "If there were a withdrawal (by Israel) we would go back straightaway, even if there were mines."

"Israel has probably transformed the countryside, which will pose some problems because even if the people have old documents, their farms were never officially registered," he added.

Farmer Kassem Kaadan, 71, adores his little orchard in Shebaa but it pales into insignificance compared with the two hectares (five acres) of land in the Farms that he inherited from his father.

"We planted olives, plums, almonds, blackberries and corn. It is a very rich soil," Kaadan said.

Lebanon has accused Israel of refusing to return the Farms in order to benefit from the region's bountiful natural resources, particularly the water which is a scarce commodity.

According to officials, there are 23 natural water sources in the Farms.

The area which rises to 2,000-metre (6,600-foot) peaks also holds strategic and military importance, Khalif said.

Despite the problem remaining unresolved for decades, Hammudi has new hope that a solution will be found.

"We have much hope. Some people even think that a withdrawal could take place this summer."