United Nations Truce Supervision Organization

UNTSO
operation area	Israel , Arab states
German name	United Nations Armistice Monitoring Organization
English name	United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
French name	Organizations of Nations unies chargé de la surveillance de la trêve
Based on UN resolution	50 (May 29, 1948)
Beginning	June 11, 1948
The End	ongoing
management	Major General (f) Kristin Lund
Deaths	51

UNTSO headquarters in Armon Hanatziv ( Jerusalem )

The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization ( UNTSO , German: Organization of the United Nations for Monitoring the Armistice ), founded in 1948, is an ongoing peacekeeping mission of the United Nations to maintain the armistice in the Middle East . It emerged from UN Resolution 50 of the UN Security Council passed on May 29, 1948 .

background

Due to the strong unrest after the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948, the UN Security Council called on the Israeli and Arab warring parties to a ceasefire that same month. To enforce this, he sent the UNTSO military observer mission, the deployment of which was approved by both sides. The first UN peacekeeping forces reached the area after the Palestinian War in 1949 . As a result, repeated attempts were made to extend the short-term truce. This is still the task of the mission today, which now extends to Egypt , Israel, Jordan , Lebanon and Syria .

During the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973, the tasks hardly changed. As a result of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 and the subsequent separation agreements between Israel and Egypt and Syria, the tasks of the UNTSO changed. Since then, the observers have been integrated into the UNDOF on the Golan Heights, in Ismailia (Egypt) and in UNIFIL in Lebanon. The offices are in Jerusalem, Beirut and Damascus.

Participating countries

Argentina , Australia , Belgium , Bhutan , Chile , People's Republic of China , Denmark , Estonia , Fiji , Finland , France , Gambia , India , Ireland , Canada , Nepal , New Zealand , Netherlands , Norway , Austria , Poland , Russian Federation , Sweden , Switzerland , Serbia , Slovak Republic , Slovenia , United States of America .

Personnel, budget, losses

• Personnel: 157 military observers (supported by 88 international and 135 local civilians). The UN mandate allows up to 259 military observers.
• Chief of Staff: Major General Kristin Lund of the Norwegian Armed Forces (Forsvaret).
• Budget: $ 74.29 million (twin budget 2014-2015)
• Casualties: 18 servicemen, 18 military observers, 8 international civilians, 6 local civilians

(all information as of October 31, 2014)

Parts of this article seem out of date as of 2014 .
Please help to research and insert the missing information .

Commanders (Chief of Staff) of UNTSO

Surname	Country of origin	Beginning of the appointment	End of appointment	Remarks
Colonel Thord Bonde	Sweden	May 1948	July 1948
Major General Åge Lundström	Sweden	July 1948	Sep 1948
Lieutenant General William E. Riley	United States	Sep 1948	July 1953
Major General Vagh Bennike	Denmark	July 1953	Aug 1954
Lieutenant General Eedson Louis Millard Burns	Canada	Aug 1954	Nov 1956
Colonel Byron V. Leary	United States	Nov 1956	March 1958
Lieutenant General Carl von Horn	Sweden	March 1958	July 1960
Colonel RW Rickert	United States	July 1960	Dec 1960
Lieutenant General Carl von Horn	Sweden	Jan. 1961	May 1963
Lieutenant General Odd Bull	Norway	May 1963	July 1970
Lieutenant General Ensio Siilasvuo	Finland	July 1970	Oct 1973
Colonel Richard Bunworth	Ireland	Oct 1973	March 1974
Major General Bengt Liljestrand	Sweden	March 1974	Aug 1975
Colonel Keith D. Howard	Australia	Sep 1975	Dec 1975
Major General Emmanuel Erskine	Ghana	Jan. 1976	March 1978
Lieutenant General William O'Callaghan	Ireland	Apr. 1978	June 1979
Colonel O. Forsgren	Sweden	June 1979	Jan. 1980
Major General Erkki R. Kaira	Finland	Feb. 1980	Feb 1981
Major General Emmanuel Erskine	Ghana	Feb 1981	May 1986
Lieutenant General William O'Callaghan	Ireland	May 1986	June 1987
Lieutenant General Martin O. Vadset	Norway	June 1987	Oct 1990
Major General Hans Christensen	Finland	Oct 1990	Oct 1992
Major General Krisna Thapa	Nepal	Oct 1992	Dec 1993	Later also Force Commander UNIKOM
Colonel John Fisher	New Zealand	Dec 1993	Apr. 1994
Colonel Luc Bujold	Canada	Apr. 1994	June 1995
Colonel Jaakko Oksanen	Finland	June 1995	Sep 1995
Major General Rufus Kupolati	Nigeria	Sep 1995	March 1998
Major General Tim Ford	Australia	April 1998	March 2000
Major General Franco Ganguzza	Italy	Apr 2000	March 2000
Major General Carl Dodd	Ireland	March 2000	Sep 2004
Major General Clive Lilley	New Zealand	Nov 2004	Nov 2006
Major General Ian Gordon	Australia	Nov 2006	Feb 2008
Major General Robert Mood	Norway	Feb 2008	Apr. 2011
Major General Juha Kilpiä	Finland	May 2011	June 2013
Major General Michael Finn	Ireland	July 2013	July 2015
Major General Dave Gawn	New Zealand	Sep 2015	July 2017
Major General (f) Kristin Lund	Norway	Oct 2017	officiating	Previously Force Commander UNIFCYP .

See also

• UN mission
• André Serot

Web links

• Official website of the UNTSO (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Text (Word document)
2. ↑ https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2017-10-06/major-general-kristin-lund-norway-head-mission-and
3. ↑ Official UNTSO COSs gallery ( Memento from May 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Australian peacekeeping veteran set to head UN's oldest peacekeeping mission. In: https://news.un.org/ . DPKO, November 14, 2006, accessed on October 19, 2018 . 
5. ^ Norwegian to head UN observers in the ME . In: The Norway Post , January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved on April 6, 2012. 
6. ↑ Ban appoints Irish major general to head up UN's oldest peacekeeping mission . In: UN News Center , June 18, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2013. 
7. ↑ https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sga1582.doc.htm
8. ↑ https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sga1764.doc.htm