Lebanon says Israeli army completely destroyed 3 schools in country’s south

Lebanon’s education minister said Friday that the Israeli army completely destroyed three schools in the country’s south after looting their contents and rigging the buildings with explosives.

In a statement carried by Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), Education and Higher Education Minister Rima Karami said Israel destroyed two schools in Khiam and one school in Bint Jbeil.

“The Israeli army looted the contents of these institutions, then surrounded them with explosives, turning them into piles of ashes,” she said.

The minister said the schools had now been added to the list of educational institutions destroyed in the conflict.

She said the destruction was taking place “before the eyes of the entire world,” despite international principles that regard schools as among the safest and most protected facilities, often used as shelters during wars, disasters and other emergencies.

She called on major powers to pressure Israel to halt the destruction and to keep educational institutions outside conflicts and wars.

Lebanon and Israel signed a US-mediated framework agreement on June 26, which provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory, beginning with a pilot model in two zones that have not been publicly identified.

The agreement does not set a timetable for the withdrawal, linking its completion to the Lebanese army assuming full security responsibility in the evacuated areas and the disarmament of armed groups, in reference to Hezbollah.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 4,324 people, injured 12,223, and displaced more than 1 million since this March, according to official Lebanese figures.

Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, some held for decades and others seized during the 2023-24 war.