Qaouzah
Geography
Qaouzah occupies a hill with elevation ranging from 700 to 800 meters above sea level. It is located 110 km south of Beirut.
Vegetation
The main agricultural products of Qaouzah are olive, carob and tobacco. Qauouzah is celebrated for the quality of its thyme and za'atar production.
The Saint Joseph forest stretches from the village to the border.
Demography
The people of Qaouzah are Lebanese and are almost exclusive Maronite Christians.
History
Late 19th Century
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A small village, containing about 100 Christians, with a small Christian chapel situated on a hill-top, with figs, olives, and arable land; a few cisterns for the water supply.”
20th Century
The Saint Joseph church was built in 1927.
21st Century
In July 2006, Qaouzah, like other villages that string Lebanon's southern border, such as Ain Ebel, Debel, Rmaich, and Yaroun, was caught in the 2006 Lebanon War of Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
In 2019, a monkey owned by Sister Beatrice Mauger, who runs a peace project in the village, breached the border with Israel, and after a week on the loose and media frenzy, was returned to its owner by United Nations peacekeepers.
Qaouzah, like other villages along the border, was caught in the crossfire during the 2023 Israel–Lebanon border conflict.