Israeli army destroys three schools in southern Lebanon, minister says

At least 20 schools have now been completely destroyed in Southern Lebanon, with 100 more damaged.

The Israeli military has looted and destroyed three schools in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s education minister.

Israel “looted” the schools before using explosives to reduce them into “piles of ashes”, Education and Higher Education Minister Rima Karami said in a statement carried by Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Friday.

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Karami said the schools had been added to the growing list of educational institutions destroyed during the conflict.

The fighting in Lebanon escalated into a full-scale war in March after months of cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah following the start of the Gaza genocide in October 2023. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in June that 17 schools in Lebanon had been destroyed in Lebanon and more than 100 damaged. The latest demolitions bring the number of destroyed schools to at least 20.

About 500,000 Lebanese children remain out of school because of the conflict, according to UNESCO, which warns that prolonged interruptions to education can have lasting consequences for children’s development and wellbeing.

The destruction of Lebanon’s schools and education system is taking place “before the eyes of the entire world”, Karami said, despite international commitments to protect schools during armed conflict.

She called on the international community to pressure Israel to halt attacks on educational institutions and safeguard schools from military operations.

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks since March have killed at least 4,324 people, injured 12,223, and displaced more than one million others. The dead include 250 children.

Lebanon and Israel signed a US-mediated framework agreement on June 26, providing for a phased Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory. The agreement does not set a timetable for the withdrawal, and instead links it to the disarmament of Hezbollah in the occupied territory.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that more than 11,000 buildings in southern Lebanon have been destroyed since the conflict escalated in March.