Israel cancels school in Lebanon border towns ahead of expected escalation

The Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command on Saturday night announced the suspension of all educational activities and restricted public gatherings in communities along the border with Lebanon.

The decision to close schools, including those operating in fortified buildings, followed an assessment that Iran-backed Hezbollah would intensify attacks on northern Israeli communities on Sunday and Monday, Channel 12 News reported.

The Home Front Command guidelines in the so-called “frontline areas” were also tightened to limit public gatherings to up to 50 people outdoors and 100 indoors, down from a previous cap of 200 people for indoor events. The restrictions had previously been relaxed on April 9 following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

Air-raid sirens continued to sound in Israel’s Upper Galilee on Sunday morning, including in the city of Kiryat Shmona, warning of incoming rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon. There were no immediate reports of injuries in the aerial assaults.

The IDF during an overnight operation struck a rocket firing position in Southern Lebanon’s Jouaiyya area, “thwarting the launch before it could be carried out,” the military said on Sunday morning, sharing footage of the operation.

Hezbollah began firing rockets and suicide drones at Israel on March 2, in retaliation for the Jewish state’s targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes of the war.

In response to the terrorist organization’s violation of the U.S.-brokered Nov. 27, 2024, truce agreement, Jerusalem launched an aerial campaign against Hezbollah and ordered IDF troops to advance and take control of additional areas in Southern Lebanon to halt cross-border attacks.