The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has emphasised that “even when schools are used for military purposes, international humanitarian law requires armed actors to take all feasible precautions prior to attack, to avoid or minimise incidental harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure”.

“Students are civilians. Teachers are too. Schools are civilian buildings. All of them are protected by the rules of war,” the ICRC said on X, adding, “Even wars have limits. Always.”

The statement comes after a girls’ school in Iran was struck on the first day of the US and Israeli attacks on ‌Iran. According to the state media, at least 160 people were killed in the attack.