In southern Lebanon, some schools have reopened their doors even as Israeli forces occupy roughly 6 percent of Lebanese territory and bombardments continue nearby. Around 100,000 Lebanese schoolchildren risk being deprived of education this year, according to figures cited by RFI. More than 340 school buildings have been damaged and 17 completely destroyed.
In Nabatieh, a city in the south, the Antonine Sisters' college now teaches fewer than 500 pupils, down from more than 1,300 before 2024. Principal Sister Marie Touma has moved the end of the school day to 1:30 p.m. because shelling tends to begin in the afternoon. During a visit by a reporter, several explosions could be heard within minutes. The school has been badly hit for the second time in two years: its science laboratory was destroyed, windows were blown out across classrooms, and a missile left its mark on the courtyard. Classes will continue in person or online. "Nothing is guaranteed," she said, but waiting idly would mean a lost school year for the children.
About ten kilometres away, the Ajyal school has reopened with some 1,600 pupils from kindergarten to final year, many displaced from villages now under Israeli control. One student, Yara Ismael, from Zawtar el-Charqiyeh, said education is "the only thing we have left." School counsellor Hoda Harb said newly arrived pupils initially struggled with the shock of what they had lost. Because security cannot be guaranteed, several other schools in the region will stay closed this year.
The security situation behind these classroom struggles is visible in the border zone itself. The Israeli military holds territory south of a line it calls the "Yellow Line," and PBS NewsHour reporting from the area describes almost every village there as destroyed and its civilians pushed out. Israel says it wants a depopulated buffer zone to keep the Iran-backed Shia group Hezbollah away from its northern border. Fighting has eased since a June ceasefire, but demolitions continue. The UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, set up in 1978, says it has recorded more than 11,000 Israeli violations since June and one attributed to Hezbollah.
UNIFIL itself is nearing the end of its mission. The UN Security Council voted last year to end it by the end of 2026, under Israeli and US pressure, and the roughly 7,000 troops are due to begin withdrawing at the end of this year, handing over to the Lebanese army. That army is currently not allowed by Israel to enter south of the Yellow Line. France is pushing for a possible multinational force to remain.
Why this matters: the schooling crisis comes on top of years of strain, including the economic collapse, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war that began in 2023. With peacekeepers preparing to leave, many residents fear a tighter Israeli hold on occupied areas, leaving families and schools with little certainty about the future.