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 | Middle East |
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| | Middle East |
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| Not an official document of the United Nations |
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LOCATION/ HEADQUARTERS Government House, Jerusalem | DURATION June 1948 to present |
| FUNCTION Established to assist the Mediator and the Truce Commission in supervising the observance of the truce in Palestine. Since then, UNTSO has performed various tasks entrusted to it by theSecurity Council, including the supervision of the General Armistice Agreements of 1949 and the observation of the ceasefire in the Suez Canal area and the Golan Heights following the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. At present, UNTSO assisted and cooperated with UNDOF on the Golan Heights in the Israel-Syria sector, and UNIFIL in the Israel-Lebanon sector. UNTSO was also present in the Egypt-Israel sector in the Sinai. UNTSO maintained offices in Beirut and Damascus. |
| CHIEF OF STAFF Major-General Timothy R. Ford (Australia) |
| STRENGTH As of 31 May 1999: Uniformed mission total:143 military observers, supported by international and local civilian staff |
CONTRIBUTORS OF MILITARY AND CIVILIAN POLICE PERSONNEL As of 31 May 1999: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and United States |
| FINANCIAL ASPECTS Method of mission financing: United Nations regular budget Revised General Assembly appropriation for the biennium 1998-1999: $47,719,100 (net). [GA resolution 53/215] |
| BACKGROUND In November 1947, the General Assembly endorsed a plan for the partition of Palestine, providing for the creation of an Arab State and a Jewish State, with Jerusalem to be placed under international status. The plan was not accepted by the Palestinian Arabs and Arab States. On 14 May 1948, the United Kingdom relinquished its mandate over Palestine and the State of Israel was proclaimed. On the following day, the Palestinian Arabs, assisted by Arab States, opened hostilities against Israel. On 29 May 1948, the Security Council, in resolution 50 (1948), called for a cessation of hostilities in Palestine and decided that the truce should be supervised by the UN mediator, with the assistance of a group of military observers. The first group of military observers arrived in the region on June 1948. Since then, UNTSO has performed various tasks, including the supervision of the General Armistice Agreements of 1949 and the monitoring of the cease-fire in the Suez Canal area and the Golan Heights following the Arab-Israel war of June 1967. UNTSO provides UNIFIL and UNDOF with military observersto assist those missions with their tasks and have been available on short notice to help set up a number of other United Nations peacekeeping operations. |
| | UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING |
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