School to reopen across most of Israel Thursday as wartime restrictions eased

Restrictions to remain in place in northern Israel due to threat of Hezbollah rockets, and IDF warns rocket fire could still target center of country or even further south

The IDF Home Front Command announced on Wednesday evening that wartime restrictions would be lifted across most of Israel starting Thursday, as a fragile ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran took hold.

The loosened restrictions meant that schools across Israel would be able to reopen and resume functioning as normal for the first time since February 28, when the war began.

In northern Israel, however, some restrictions would remain in place due to the threat of Hezbollah rocket fire from Lebanon, the Home Front Command said. Educational activities will still be permitted under certain conditions.

As part of the changes, communities on the Lebanon border, in most of the Golan Heights, the Upper Galilee and the Haifa Bay area will be allowed to hold educational activities only inside bomb shelters.

In those affected areas, gatherings of up to 50 people outdoors and 200 people indoors will be permitted, while workplaces will be allowed to operate if adequate shelter can be reached in time in the event of incoming rocket fire.

In the rest of the country, nearly all restrictions have been lifted, the Home Front Command said, allowing schools and workplaces to resume operations as normal. However, gatherings will be limited to 1,000 people in many areas.

The changes will take effect at 6 a.m. on Thursday and remain in place for just 14 hours, until 8 p.m. Thursday. By then, a new assessment will be carried out by the Home Front Command to determine whether to extend or adjust the guidelines.

Despite lifting nearly all restrictions, the military warned that Hezbollah’s rocket fire could still target central Israel or further south.

As part of preparations for schools to reopen, the military said it held discussions with local authorities and the Education Ministry and was conducting scans for unexploded ordnance in the areas around schools countrywide to enable a safe return.

The ministry also reportedly indicated to localities that they would be allowed to delay the resumption of in-person learning should they need more time to prepare, given the short notice.

And with the country’s 2.5 million children set to return to the classroom after being stuck at home for the past five weeks, Education Minister Yoav Kisch said on Wednesday evening that he had instructed schools to focus on the emotional well-being of their students and make adjustments in accordance with their needs.

In the wake of the Home Front Command announcement, many cities and towns in central Israel announced that they would be ready to return to regular educational activities as soon as Thursday morning, including Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Rishon Lezion, and other neighboring locales. Jerusalem also confirmed it would reopen schools on Thursday, as did Mevaseret Zion, on the outskirts of the city.

Most localities in the Sharon region, including Herzliya, Hod Hasharon, Kfar Saba, Pardes Hanna-Karkur and Hadera, also announced that they would reopen schools in full.

According to Hebrew media outlets, the Education Ministry had already notified many municipalities before the restrictions were even formally lifted that they were free to reopen schools as normal after Passover, which ended Wednesday evening in Israel.