Israel blows up school, strikes religious commemoration site in southern Lebanon despite truce

Israeli forces blew up buildings in southern Lebanon early Wednesday, including a school, and struck a site used to commemorate Ashura, causing injuries despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported.

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

They also carried out explosions in the Touline Valley along the Wadi al-Saluki road, it added.

During the night, Israeli forces carried out two large explosions in Haddatha, as well as a massive blast in Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district, according to the agency.

An Israeli drone directly struck an Ashura commemoration site on the Kafra-Al-Asi road, causing several injuries, the NNA said.

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The agency also reported that an Israeli drone flew over Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Despite ongoing negotiations, Israel continues its aggression in Lebanon that began on March 2, killing 4,335 people, wounding 12,277 and displacing more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities.

Under US sponsorship, Beirut and Tel Aviv signed a framework agreement on June 26 that calls for Israel’s gradual withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army and the disarmament of armed groups, including Hezbollah.

Israel continues to occupy areas of southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the 2023-2024 war. Its forces have advanced more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) into Lebanese territory during the current war.

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