What to do about unexploded ordnance when you come home — the one rule, how to report it, who clears it, and the order a safe return to the village and its groves happens.
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If you are coming back to Mazraat El Mechref, the most dangerous thing around the village is not always something you can see. The village was struck in November 2024, and across South Lebanon unexploded shells, cluster bomblets and booby-traps have been left in homes, gardens, fields and under the olive and fig trees — some of it left behind after the fighting stopped. This page is the short version of how to stay safe: one rule, what to do if you find something, who to call, and the order a safe return happens.
Do not enter a home, field or terrace until it has been checked and cleared
Do not touch it, move it, or go near it
Do not pick it up, kick it, throw anything at it, or lean in to photograph it. Many objects look harmless — a metal ball, a tin, a wire, even something that looks like a toy — and still kill. This includes anything strange inside your house, your yard, or among the trees.
Move away and keep others back
Step back the way you came, and keep children and animals away. Stick to paved ground you know is used. If you can do it from a safe distance without going any closer, mark the spot — a cloth, a pile of stones — so others know to avoid it.
Report it — call one of the numbers below
Say what you saw and exactly where it is. Do not go back to it. Wait for the army or a clearance team — dealing with it is their job, never yours.
Clearance in South Lebanon is run by the Lebanese Army through the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) and its regional centre for the south. They task the teams, check the work, and officially release land back to residents once it is safe. Much of the digging is done by humanitarian teams — Norwegian People's Aid (whose southern base is in Tyre), the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), DanChurchAid and others — and by UN deminers supporting UNIFIL, all working under that system. You report a danger to the army, the Civil Defence or LMAC — not to the NGOs — and you wait for the official release before treating your land as safe.
This is the general order things tend to happen for a returning family. It is not a live status for your address — only an official survey can tell you whether your own home and land are cleared.
Your area and access road are released as cleared
Who is responsible: Lebanese Army / LMAC, after the clearance teams finish
Your own home, fields and terraces are checked — a cleared road is not a cleared field
Who is responsible: Report anything you find; wait for the army or a clearance team
The building is checked for structural safety before anyone lives in it
Who is responsible: An engineer or the municipality, where one is available
Water is restored, or trucked in while the network is rebuilt
Who is responsible: South Lebanon Water Establishment; aid agencies trucking water
Power is restored, or a generator subscription covers the gap
Who is responsible: EDL for the grid; your local generator (ishtirak)
Rubble and debris are cleared and recorded
Who is responsible: Government and municipality, under the national recovery programme
Damage is surveyed and documented for any compensation
Who is responsible: Survey teams — keep your own papers and photographs
Town Tools builds free, public tools for Mazraat El Mechref and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.