HI deminers in Nabi Ayla
The Bekaa region, largely rural and located east of Beirut, has been hit by Israeli army bombardments since 2023, leaving vast areas contaminated by explosive remnants of war. HI deminers are currently working in the village of Nabi Ayla.
Within the first days of their work on farmland in the village, HI deminers found 11 munitions. The presence of an ammunition storage site in a building suggests that the contamination of the area is probably much more extensive than expected. The building is reported to have been hit by Israeli airstrikes, scattering the remnants of unexploded munitions over wide areas.
More complicated than expected
What initially looked like a routine clearance operation has taken on a whole different scale. The presence of explosive ordnance, large amounts of metal debris and homes near the clearance area make this one of the most complex operations HI is currently running.
- Metal saturation: the ground contains so much metal debris that detectors beep almost constantly, making it hard to identify real threats.
- Terrain conditions: the hard, compact soil slows down excavation.
- The clearance area is located close to inhabited homes.
Given the number of munitions found in the very first days of the operation, HI expects the area to be extremely heavily contaminated.
By the numbers:
- 7 deminers have been assigned to this mission since September 2026. After two days of setting up the site, the team began clearance operations.
- By mid-September, 200 m² had already been cleared, out of a total of 20,000 m² to be decontaminated.
- 11 explosive ordnance items found to date — grenades and RPG rockets (projectiles fired from anti-tank rocket launchers)
- More than 2 additional months of clearance are estimated, possibly longer as the true extent of the contamination remains unknown
Dialogue with the villagers
HI is working with local authorities to facilitate its intervention, combining detector assisted searches with visual detection, which is better suited to the type of terrain and as most of the unexploded ordnance is found on the ground surface.
“Over time, explosive items change colour and begin to blend in with the surrounding ground, for example through rust, which makes them harder for the deminer to see. They may also become partly sunk into the soil or covered with dust or debris. In these cases, a detector helps locate the item, but only on the ground surface. The detector assists the eye: here we are conducting surface clearance, not subsurface clearance. It is used to support visual inspection. If little time has passed, or the items are clearly visible, this assistance is not needed. In grassy areas, the grass must be cut before the ground surface can be inspected properly. Otherwise, how could the deminer see the ground? However, before any cutting begins, we first use the detector over the grass to check for possible hidden explosive ordnance that the eye cannot see.”
Adnan Araji, Operations Chief of Mine Action Programs
At the start of the mission, some landowners feared that the operations would damage their crops. That concern disappeared once HI deminers explained how they would proceed and took their worries into account.
Since then, one landowner has made a house available to the team to serve as a command point, and he shares produce from his fields, including tomatoes.
The team coordinates with residents every day during operations and follows strict procedures for handling any explosive object found.
All HI clearance activities in Lebanon are conducted in close coordination with Lebanese Mine Action Centre and under its accreditation and tasking framework
