Schools reopen across Israel as wartime restrictions are lifted due to Iran ceasefire

Children across Israel returned to school on Thursday morning after the IDF Home Front Command announced the lifting of wartime attendance restrictions following the start of the ceasefire with Iran.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch said schools have been instructed to prioritize students’ emotional well-being and provide counseling where needed after nearly six weeks of absence.

While part of that period coincided with the Purim and Passover holidays, teachers’ groups warned that significant portions of the curriculum were not adequately covered during distance learning and called for a swift return to regular academic studies.

The announcement on Wednesday evening followed a surprise statement a day earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The sudden shift caught many off guard, including schools and teachers, some of whom said they would continue with planned distance learning via Zoom on Thursday and Friday before resuming in-class instruction on Sunday.

“We were not ready to begin having students come back to the classrooms on Thursday morning,” said one Jerusalem area middle school teacher.

“The classrooms have to be cleaned, transportation needs to be sorted out for everyone, the cafeteria doesn’t have any food ready to cook for lunch, and so on. Also, I had all my lesson plans prepared on my laptop for distance learning on Thursday, and it’s not so easy to switch all that up and start doing it in class. I think everyone will be ready to start a new week on Sunday, but to just switch and make all those adjustments for one and a half days at the end of a week like this is not optimal, especially with such short notice. It’s easy to cancel school, it’s not so easy to get school back up and running.”

However, some schools had apparently been planning to return to in-class learning on Thursday, in any case, following the Passover holiday, and so many daycares, kindergartens, and elementary schools around the country reopened for in-class instruction on Thursday morning. 

The main exception was in the north, where Hezbollah rocket fire remains a threat. The Home Front Command kept school restrictions in place across much of the Golan Heights, Upper Galilee, and Haifa Bay area, even as the Air Force carried out extensive strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut.

However, limited educational activities were permitted in most communities, provided they were held in bomb shelters or other protected spaces. According to anecdotal reports, some smaller communities and kibbutzim have already been holding such activities in shelters in recent weeks.

Most workplaces across the country are also returning to normal routines, although some offices said they will continue to allow employees to work from home if their children have not yet returned to school or under other extenuating circumstances.

Places of worship are also reopening, and public meetings remain limited to 1,000 people or fewer.

Meanwhile, the Home Front Command said it is continuing to monitor the regional situation and will conduct regular reassessments. It warned that citizens should be prepared for a possible return to wartime restrictions if the security situation deteriorates, particularly in the north.

In addition, bomb disposal teams have been operating in some areas, including near schools, searching for unexploded munitions from recent fighting. As a result, some schools remain closed until the operations are completed and safety is assured.

Communities that announced an immediate, at least partial, resumption of in-class instruction include Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Rishon LeZion, Mevaseret Zion, Herzliya, Hod Hasharon, Kfar Saba, Pardes Hanna-Karkur and Hadera.