Israeli forces on May 1 demolished a historic monastery and its attached school run by a Catholic order of religious sisters in the southern Lebanese border village of Yaroun, according to multiple regional reports.
Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency, citing Lebanon’s National News Agency, reported that the school “was considered one of the most prominent educational institutions in the region” and had educated thousands of students from various towns in the Bint Jbeil district, near the Israeli-Lebanese border and south of the Litani River. Its destruction represents “a major loss at both the educational and social levels,” the Lebanese news agency added.
Video footage circulating on social media purports to show heavy machinery leveling the structures.
VIDEO | Israeli occupation forces level the historic monastery and school belonging to the Sisters of the Holy Savior in the southern Lebanese border village of Yaroun. pic.twitter.com/BSv15G7GrP
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) May 1, 2026
According to the French-language Lebanese outlet L’Orient Today, Yaroun has been largely destroyed since the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in fall 2024.
Since the early days of the Iran war, Israeli forces have continued operations in southern Lebanon, saying the campaign is aimed at Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters, weapons sites, and military infrastructure near the border.
The fighting has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1 million in Lebanon, according to the United Nations. As Zeale News previously reported, Christian villages in southern Lebanon have also been caught in the crossfire, and an Israeli airstrike in March killed a Catholic priest in the Christian-majority village of Qlayaa.
A U.S.-brokered 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect April 17 and has since been extended until May 17, but the truce has widely been described as fragile, with both sides accusing each other of continued violations.
During the ceasefire, Israel has also maintained what it describes as a “buffer zone” by occupying southern Lebanon up to the Litani River as part of its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah targets. As Zeale News previously reported, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said March 24 that in order to keep a “defensive buffer,” Israel would demolish homes and buildings near the border, which he described as “terrorist outposts.”