KABUL (Pajhwok): The Israeli military has destroyed three more schools in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of schools completely destroyed in the country to at least 20, a media report said on Sunday.
Israeli forces looted the schools before demolishing them with explosives, reducing the buildings to “piles of ashes”, Al Jazeera reported, quoting Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education Rima Karami.
Karami said the schools had been added to the growing list of educational institutions destroyed during the conflict.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said in June that 17 schools in Lebanon had been completely destroyed and more than 100 others damaged. The latest demolitions bring the number of schools completely destroyed to at least 20.
About 500,000 Lebanese children remain out of school because of the conflict, according to UNESCO, which warns that prolonged disruption to education could have lasting consequences for children’s development and well-being.
The Lebanese education minister 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 others and displaced more than one million people. The dead include 250 children.
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