Schools in Israel’s center and north will remain closed for the time being amid the war with Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, Education Minister Yoav Kisch said on Thursday.
Speaking at a situational assessment held in the Western Galilee city of Nahariya, Kisch told officials that discussing the return of most students to educational institutions in the central and northern regions was “not relevant” amid missile and drone attacks.
Accordingly, distance learning is expected to continue throughout most of the country next week, the minister said, Ynet reported.
Kisch said that if local authorities were considering a phased reopening in areas that have not seen as many missile alerts, such as Gaza border localities, schools would require at least 24 hours’ advance notice.
If approval was given after Shabbat on Saturday evening, institutions in approved areas would only reopen on Monday, the minister said.
The Cabinet voted on Tuesday afternoon to extend the “special emergency” status for the entire country. The “Special Situation on the Home Front,” which the government extended through March 26, authorizes the military’s Home Front Command to restrict public gatherings.
Educational institutions and non-essential workplaces were closed, while public gatherings were limited, under Home Front Command orders, when Jerusalem and Washington started “Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury” on Feb. 28.
Workplaces where timely access to protected areas is possible have since reopened.
At least 15 people, all noncombatants, have been killed in some 300 Iranian ballistic missile attacks targeting civilians in the Jewish state.
In a statement on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended civilians for the way they were “conducting yourselves in this emergency, understanding the gravity of the hour and following Home Front Command instructions, which truly save lives.
“In the secure rooms and protected spaces, you are demonstrating a powerful spirit. You tell me, the government, and our heroic soldiers and commanders: ‘Continue until the end, until victory!” he said.
“Together, we will continue to stand firm, roar like a lion, and with God’s help, together we will ensure the eternity of Israel,” the premier said.
