Israel destroys schools in southern Lebanon”—that grim headline repeated itself this week as Lebanon’s education minister confirmed that the Israeli military demolished three more schools near the country’s southern border. The latest destruction pushes the total number of fully destroyed schools in the region to at least 20, with roughly 100 more damaged, according to figures from Lebanese officials and UN agencies tracking the fallout of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. With an estimated 500,000 Lebanese children already out of school, the latest demolitions add fresh urgency to warnings from international organizations about a generation of students losing access to education.
What Lebanon’s Education Minister Said
Lebanon’s Education and Higher Education Minister, Rima Karami, said in a statement carried by Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency that Israeli forces looted the three schools before using explosives to level the structures, describing the aftermath as “piles of ashes.” Karami said the schools have been added to a growing list of educational institutions destroyed since fighting escalated and argued that the destruction of Lebanon’s school system is unfolding “before the eyes of the entire world,” despite international agreements meant to protect schools during armed conflict.
Karami called on the international community to press Israel to halt strikes on educational institutions and to take concrete steps to protect schools from further military operations. Her statement echoes similar appeals she has made throughout the conflict; in an earlier incident in April, after the Israeli military detonated a public high school in the border town of Marwahine, Karami issued a direct appeal to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and other international bodies, noting that many surviving public schools in the region are now being used as shelters for displaced families rather than as functioning classrooms.
The Israeli military has stated throughout the conflict that its operations in southern Lebanon are aimed at Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned armed group and political party, rather than civilian infrastructure. Israel has not issued a detailed public response to this specific set of school demolitions, though it has previously said certain buildings were targeted due to their use, or suspected use, in support of Hezbollah’s military operations.
How the Conflict Escalated
The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which had involved sporadic cross-border exchanges for years, escalated into a full-scale war in March 2026, following months of tension that traced back to the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Hezbollah has described its actions as being in support of Palestinians in Gaza and allied with Iran, while Israel has characterized its military campaign in Lebanon as a necessary response to Hezbollah’s rocket and missile attacks along the border.
The human toll of the escalation has been severe on both sides. According to Lebanese health authorities, Israeli strikes since March have killed at least 4,324 people and injured more than 12,223, figures that the Lebanese health ministry does not break down by civilian or combatant status. Lebanese officials say the dead include roughly 250 children, and more than a million people have been displaced from their homes across the south. On the Israeli side, official figures have cited dozens of deaths, including soldiers killed in cross-border strikes and ground operations, though the overall casualty totals remain far lower than those reported in Lebanon.
The most recent flashpoint before this week’s school demolitions came in early July, when an Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed four people, including a local school principal who had been checking on repairs to her war-damaged home. The Israeli military said it targeted the vehicle because its occupants were approaching a declared “security zone” and posed a threat to its forces—an explanation that illustrates the kind of dispute over intent and targeting that has surrounded many individual incidents throughout the conflict.
The Scale of Destruction to Lebanon’s Education System
The three newly destroyed schools bring the confirmed total to at least 20 schools completely destroyed in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese officials, with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) separately confirming in June that 17 schools had been destroyed and more than 100 damaged at that point in the conflict. UNESCO has warned that extended interruptions to schooling can carry long-term consequences for children’s cognitive development, mental health, and future economic opportunities — effects that often persist well beyond the end of active conflict.
Independent human rights researchers have also documented specific incidents involving Lebanese schools. Human Rights Watch reported that Israeli ground forces occupied numerous schools in southern Lebanon during an earlier phase of the conflict in late 2024, using some buildings as military barracks, and found evidence in at least two schools of deliberate vandalism and looting that the organization said may amount to violations of the laws of war. Investigators cited physical evidence, including Hebrew-language graffiti and discarded military equipment, found inside school buildings during site visits. The Israeli military has acknowledged operating from civilian structures based on “operational needs” in some cases while denying that it condones vandalism and has said it investigates allegations of misconduct.
With roughly 500,000 Lebanese children currently out of school due to the conflict, according to UNESCO estimates, many surviving school buildings across the country have also been repurposed as shelters for displaced families, further reducing the number of functioning classrooms available even where structures remain standing.
The Fragile Ceasefire Framework
Lebanon and Israel signed a US-mediated framework agreement on June 26, which lays out a phased Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory currently under occupation. Notably, the agreement does not set a fixed timetable for that withdrawal; instead, it links the pace of any pullback to the disarmament of Hezbollah within the areas Israel currently occupies, a condition that has proven difficult to implement quickly given Hezbollah’s continued presence and armament in parts of the south.
The broader ceasefire, negotiated with support from the United States and Qatar, and reportedly with input from Iran, has measurably reduced the overall intensity of fighting compared to the height of the conflict earlier in the year. However, sporadic strikes and incidents — including the early-July attack that killed the school principal — have continued despite the agreement, illustrating how incomplete the de-escalation remains on the ground. Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah’s continued military presence in the region has become the central sticking point preventing a fuller Israeli withdrawal from proceeding on any agreed schedule.
The Broader Physical Toll on Southern Lebanon
Schools represent just one category of the destruction documented across southern Lebanon since the conflict escalated. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that more than 11,000 buildings in the region have been destroyed since March, encompassing homes, businesses, and public infrastructure alongside educational facilities. That scale of destruction has fueled discussion among Lebanese officials and international donors about the scope and cost of eventual reconstruction, a process that is likely to extend for years even once active hostilities fully cease.
Aid organizations operating in Lebanon have repeatedly flagged the compounding nature of this destruction: displaced families lose their homes, then lose access to nearby schools and clinics as those structures are damaged or destroyed in turn, creating cascading humanitarian needs that outpace the current level of international assistance flowing into the region.
What Comes Next
The path forward remains uncertain on multiple fronts. Diplomatically, the success of the June 26 framework depends heavily on progress toward Hezbollah’s disarmament in occupied areas, a process neither side has publicly indicated will happen quickly. On the ground, Lebanese officials continue to document new instances of destroyed infrastructure even after the ceasefire agreement was signed, suggesting that a formal framework alone has not been sufficient to fully halt incidents affecting civilian structures.
For Lebanon’s education system specifically, officials and international agencies have called for urgent reconstruction funding and interim solutions, such as temporary learning spaces, to prevent long-term disruption for the hundreds of thousands of children currently without access to functioning schools. Whether that support materializes at the scale needed will likely shape how quickly, or how slowly, southern Lebanon’s education system can begin to recover.
International Reaction and Calls for Accountability
The repeated destruction of schools has drawn continued attention from international bodies tasked with protecting education during armed conflict. Lebanon has formally endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an international commitment under which signatory states pledge to take concrete steps to protect students, teachers, and school buildings from the effects of armed conflict. Advocates for the declaration argue that repeated demolitions of school infrastructure, regardless of the stated military justification, run counter to the spirit of that commitment and to broader international humanitarian law protections for civilian infrastructure.
UN agencies, including UNESCO, have used past updates on Lebanon’s education crisis to press donor governments for increased funding, both for emergency temporary learning spaces and for the eventual reconstruction of permanently destroyed schools. Officials working on the ground have cautioned that without faster intervention, Lebanon risks a multi-year gap in schooling for children in the hardest-hit southern districts, compounding disruptions the country’s education system was already facing from an economic crisis that predates the current conflict by several years.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many schools have been destroyed in southern Lebanon? Lebanese officials say at least 20 schools have been completely destroyed, with UNESCO separately confirming more than 100 additional schools have been damaged since the conflict escalated.
Why is the Israeli military operating in southern Lebanon? Israel has said its operations are aimed at Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned armed group, rather than civilian infrastructure, though international observers have documented specific incidents involving damage to schools and other civilian buildings.
Is there a ceasefire in place between Israel and Lebanon? A US-mediated framework agreement was signed on June 26, calling for a phased Israeli withdrawal tied to Hezbollah’s disarmament, though it has no fixed timetable and sporadic strikes have continued since it was signed.
How many people have been affected by the conflict overall? According to Lebanese authorities, strikes since March have killed more than 4,300 people, injured over 12,000, and displaced more than a million residents, alongside the destruction of more than 11,000 buildings, per UN Development Programme estimates.
This article reflects reporting available as of July 18, 2026. This is a developing story, and casualty and destruction figures may be updated as further verification occurs. For more on UNESCO’s education-in-emergencies work and for Human Rights Watch’s documentation on schools in southern Lebanon.
