Demolishes southern Lebanon school

Israel demolishes southern Lebanon school despite ceasefire

By Kara Fox and Charbel Mallo

Israel destroyed a school building in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanon’s army said, marking the latest in a campaign of demolitions targeting civilian infrastructure that continues despite a ceasefire.

Israeli forces detonated the four-story Sheikh Naim Mahdi School building in the center of Eastern Zawtar, it said.

CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment but has previously said its operations are aimed at stopping Hezbollah militants.

The mayor of Zawtar al-Sharqiya, Muhammad Ismail told CNN it marked “the biggest blow” in a spate of bombings that have escalated over the past month, including the destruction of a nursery, municipal buildings, and homes – including his own.

“Every day, people wait for their homes, their livelihoods, and their families’ homes to be destroyed. We have no hope. We live in constant anxiety about tomorrow, wondering if we’ll even have our homes standing tomorrow,” the mayor said.

Wednesday’s bombings come a week after Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli forces set fire to orchards and agricultural land in several villages. Local rights groups have called the fires part of a broader pattern of “ecocide.”

In a statement to CNN, the IDF did not address claims it was deliberately setting fires in Lebanon, saying instead it is “aware of the potential environmental impact of its operations in the region” adding that its operations are “conducted while taking precautionary measures.”

The latest round of Israel-Lebanon talks ended last week without a clear date set for their resumption, and amid an apparent lack of progress on expanding the number of ‘pilot zones’ - pockets of Lebanese territory from which the Israeli army withdraws, handing over control to the Lebanese armed forces, on the understanding the area remains free of Hezbollah fighters.