Unexploded Ordnance Safety in Tyre

What to do about unexploded ordnance when you come home to Tyre — the one rule, how to report it, who clears it, and the order a safe return happens.

If you are coming back to Tyre or the villages around it, some of the danger the war left behind is not something you can see. Tyre and the Tyre district were hit hard in the 2024 airstrikes and again in the March–June 2026 war, and across South Lebanon unexploded shells, cluster bomblets and booby-traps have been left in the rubble of collapsed buildings, in homes and gardens, and out in the citrus, olive and tobacco groves. This page is the short version of how to stay safe: the one rule, what to do if you find something, who to call, who clears the land, and the order a safe return happens.

Do not enter a building, a field or a grove until it has been checked and cleared

A cleared road does not mean your home is cleared. Cluster bomblets, shells and booby-traps have been found in the rubble of damaged buildings, in homes and gardens, and in the fields and groves across the Tyre district and the wider south. Treat your own building, your land and your trees as unchecked until a clearance team has been over them — and wait for the official all-clear for your area before you dig in the rubble, plough, burn, or harvest under the trees.

If you are coming back to Tyre or the villages around it, some of the danger the war left behind is not something you can see. Tyre and the Tyre district were hit hard in the 2024 airstrikes and again in the March–June 2026 war, and across South Lebanon unexploded shells, cluster bomblets and booby-traps have been left in the rubble of collapsed buildings, in homes and gardens, and out in the citrus, olive and tobacco groves. This page is the short version of how to stay safe: the one rule, what to do if you find something, who to call, who clears the land, and the order a safe return happens.

Do not enter a building, a field or a grove until it has been checked and cleared

A cleared road does not mean your home is cleared. Cluster bomblets, shells and booby-traps have been found in the rubble of damaged buildings, in homes and gardens, and in the fields and groves across the Tyre district and the wider south. Treat your own building, your land and your trees as unchecked until a clearance team has been over them — and wait for the official all-clear for your area before you dig in the rubble, plough, burn, or harvest under the trees.

If you find something

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 small canister, a tin, a wire, even something that looks like a toy — and still kill. This includes anything strange in the rubble, inside your building, in the yard, or among the trees.
Move away and keep others back
Step back the way you came, and keep children and animals well 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.

Report it — call now

Unexploded ordnance reporting line (LMAC)

Report a shell, bomblet or suspicious object

Phone: 05 956 143

Lebanese Army

Report unexploded items — also reachable on this line

Phone: 1701

Lebanese Civil Defence

Emergencies, fire, rescue

Phone: 125

Who clears your home and land

Clearance in South Lebanon is run by the Lebanese Army through the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) and its Regional Mine Action Center in Nabatieh (RMAC-N), which plans and manages all clearance in the south, the Tyre district included. 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, along with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), DanChurchAid and Humanity & Inclusion — and by UN deminers supporting UNIFIL, all working under that system. You report a danger to the army, the Civil Defence or LMAC — never to the NGOs that do the digging — and you wait for the official release before treating your building or your land as safe.

What to expect

The contamination is widespread: LMAC estimates that around 700,000 people across South Lebanon live with leftover ordnance nearby, including cluster munitions. Tyre is the district capital, inside that zone, and both the city and the villages around it were struck in 2024 and again in the March–June 2026 war.
The rubble and the groves are both the danger: In the city, ordnance can be hidden in the rubble of the buildings brought down by the airstrikes; in the district, cluster bomblets and shells land in the citrus, olive and tobacco groves and the fields, where farmers are among the people most often hurt. Do not dig in the rubble, and do not clear, plough, burn or harvest under trees on land that has not been checked and released — ask for it to be surveyed first.
People are still being hurt: Soldiers and civilians in the south — including in the Tyre district — have been killed and injured by leftover ordnance in the months since the fighting, and clearing it is dangerous work in itself. That is why these rules still matter long after the guns fall quiet. No one can give a finish date for a village or a single street, so plan around the official releases as they come, area by area.

The order a safe return happens

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 building 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 building, yard and land are checked — a cleared road is not a cleared home
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, the municipality or the Council of the South
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 — only after the ground is checked for ordnance

Official information

Lebanon Mine Action Center (Lebanese Army) — The national authority that clears ordnance and releases land as safe. The south is run through its Regional Mine Action Center in Nabatieh.
Lebanese Army — unexploded-ordnance awareness — How to recognise and report unexploded ordnance — do not touch it; report to a military centre, 05 956 143, or 1701.

Lebanese Red Cross

Ambulance and first aid for injuries

Phone: 140

Unexploded ordnance reporting line (LMAC): The Lebanon Mine Action Center line named in the official Lebanese Army / ICRC awareness campaign. It is based near Beirut; clearance in the south is run through the Regional Mine Action Center in Nabatieh. If someone is hurt or it is an emergency right now, also call the Civil Defence or the Red Cross.
Lebanese Red Cross: For a serious injury, the main hospitals for the city and district are Jabal Amel and Hiram, both in Tyre.

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

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