Loading Unexploded Ordnance Safety in Zawtar…
Before you go home: the one rule about unexploded shells and cluster bombs, what to do if you find something, who to call, and the order a safe return happens.
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If you are coming back to Zawtar El Sharqiyeh, the most dangerous thing in the village is not always something you can see. After the fighting reached the village and crossed the Litani in May 2026, unexploded shells, cluster bomblets and booby-traps have been left in homes, gardens, tobacco fields and rubble.
Do not enter a home, field or road 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 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 or yard.
Move away and keep others back
Step back the way you came, and keep children and animals away. 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.
Unexploded ordnance reporting line (LMAC)
Report a shell, bomblet or suspicious object
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 district — Zawtar 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, MAG, Humanity & Inclusion, DanChurchAid and others — 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 and land are checked — a cleared road is not a cleared house
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
Lebanese Red Cross
Ambulance and first aid for injuries
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 Zawtar El Sharqiyeh 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.
Do not enter a home, field or road until it has been checked and cleared
Report a shell, bomblet or suspicious object 05 956 143