Lebanese security forces have their eyes on the south, in particular on Arqoub, a region on the Lebanese-Syrian border that includes the villages of Shebaa, Kfar Shuba, Hebarieh, Kfar Hamam and Rashaya al-Foukhar. The area is demographically and geographically distinct. It has a Sunni Muslim majority, but also includes several Shiite villages (among them Khiyam), Christian areas (including Rashaya al-Foukhar, Marjeyoun, Klayaa and Burj al-Moulouk) as well as Druze settlements (for example, Almari, Hasbaya and Fraidiss). The Golan Heights run along the Syrian side of the border adjacent to the region.

The biggest town in Arqoub is Shebaa, along the Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli border. Lebanon considers Shebaa Farms to still be occupied by Israel, but the United Nations holds that Shebaa Farms is Syrian territory. Kfar Shuba is also disputed territory.

Just like other regions of Lebanon, Arqoub changed demographically with the arrival of large numbers of displaced Syrians, mainly in Kfar Shuba, Shebaa and Hebarieh. Shebaa alone accommodates more than 7,000 displaced persons, who outnumber the town's 5,000 or so residents. Most of the refugees fled from Beit Jann and Mazraat Beit Jann, in the eastern countryside of Damascus, during raging battles along an axis between the Syrian army and opposition militants.

The refugees live in houses they rent with the help of monthly allowances from the United Nations and in a building overseen by the Islamic Group, which has a strong presence in the area. They also receive food and medicine from the UN in addition to other donations. Camps sheltering some 5,000 additional displaced people have been set up, scattered around the outskirts of Ibl al-Saqi, Khiyam and Hebarieh.