Boy Killed, 24 Wounded When Ordnance Detonates on Israeli School Hike Near Lebanon Border

A school hike in northern Israel ended in a mass-casualty event on Monday afternoon, Oct. 12. A boy was killed and at least 24 people were wounded when an unexploded munition detonated between Kibbutz Manara and Kibbutz Yiftah, near the Lebanese border. The Jerusalem Post and Ynet put the victim's age at 14; Xinhua reported 15. The sources do not reconcile the discrepancy.

The victims were students and staff of the ORT Ma'alot Yeshiva High School, the Ma'alot-Tarshiha municipality said. They were on the first day of the school's annual hike along the Israel National Trail.

What the investigation has found so far

A preliminary Israeli military investigation found the blast was likely caused by a Hezbollah cluster bomb left over from past fighting, according to a military statement. The Israel Fire and Rescue Authority said early evidence indicates a student put the munition into his bag, where it later detonated.

Deputy Police Commissioner Meir Eliyahu, a commander in Israel's northern district, put it more cautiously: "Apparently, the suspicion is that an unexploded munition of some kind exploded in the hands of one of the students."

Several questions remain open. Ynet reported that investigators are still working to identify the device, including whether it was a cluster munition or another type of explosive. The military is also examining whether the ordnance was left behind by Israeli forces or fired by Hezbollah and remained unexploded until Monday. The theory that a student picked it up and placed it in his bag remains under investigation, and authorities have not established what triggered the detonation.

CNN reported that it is unclear when the projectile was fired.

Was the trip supposed to be there?

The blast site was previously a staging ground for Israeli forces and was also targeted by Hezbollah fire, Ynet reported. The IDF is investigating whether the school group had the necessary authorization to pass through the area and, if so, whether the approval ran through the proper military channels.

Police Commissioner Daniel Levy said that, to the best of his knowledge, the trip "received approval from the relevant authorities." That is his statement of what he knows, and the IDF review has not yet confirmed or contradicted it.

The wounded and the response

United Hatzalah said three people were seriously injured and at least 10 others had light-to-moderate injuries. Magen David Adom said two of the seriously hurt were 14 years old, and that eight of the moderately injured and 12 with minor injuries were children.

Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa admitted three teenagers and one adult to its trauma unit. Ziv Medical Center in Safed is treating 14 casualties. The Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya is treating six, one of them seriously.

The IDF sent three Air Force helicopters and Unit 669 search-and-rescue personnel, and 14 ambulances went to the scene. "We quickly dispatched substantial forces to the scene," said Itzik Shushan, MDA's regional director, calling it a "complex incident."

Parents said the students were praying together when the blast hit, which contributed to the large number of casualties. Dvir Klein, whose son Itay suffered a leg injury, said he guided the boy by phone on applying a tourniquet to himself. "The boys showed amazing responsibility," he said. Klein added that his son told him a classmate had touched the ordnance, but that he believes the accurate facts should come from those who have the full information, "rather than just my son's account."

An MDA medical technician described students holding and helping their wounded friends, some applying tourniquets themselves.

Political fallout and the ceasefire

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with the education minister, visited the wounded and their families at Rambam Hospital on Monday evening. He instructed the IDF to reinforce the prohibitions against touching unexploded ordnance.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch ordered a two-day suspension of school trips in the area to assess student safety, according to Xinhua. The Education Ministry said it is working with the security forces to give answers to students, staff and families, and asked the public not to spread unverified information. Ma'alot Mayor Moti Ben-David said an operations center staffed by social workers and psychologists has been set up for the students.

Israel Police urged people to stay away from the area and report any suspicious objects.

The blast comes against the backdrop of a US-brokered ceasefire in late June that was meant to end months of conflict in southern Lebanon. It paved the way for the Lebanese military to deploy and for the IDF to withdraw gradually. Israel pulled back from two small areas along the so-called yellow line that demarcates the zone its military occupies. Further progress has largely stalled.

The open questions for the IDF are specific: what the device was, whose it was, how long it had been on the ground, and whether a school group was cleared to walk through a former military staging area.