A 14-year-old boy was killed and 24 people were injured on a school hike when an unexploded bomb went off in northern Israel.
Elazar Yair Wilensky, a ninth-grade student at ORT Ma’alot Yeshiva High School, was identified as the youngster who died.
The IDF’s early assessment indicated that the device was likely to be an unexploded Hezbollah cluster munition left in the area.
According to preliminary investigative findings, a student picked up the unexploded munition and placed it in his bag before it detonated.
The youngest of five children, Wilensky was remembered by his family as “a boy who loved life, intelligent and wise, full of joy, a good and beloved friend who had his whole future ahead of him.”
He was a promising fencer who ranked among Israel’s leading athletes in his age group. His older brother, Dov, is an accomplished épée fencer who has represented Israel internationally.
The explosion occurred near Mitzpeh Pe’er on Ramim Ridge in the Upper Galilee, close to the Lebanese border.
Approximately 50 students and teachers from ORT Ma’alot Yeshiva High School were participating in the school’s annual outing for seventh, eighth and ninth-graders.
The precise circumstances of the explosion remained under investigation.
The blast killed Wilensky and wounded 23 other students and a teacher.
The 61-year-old teacher underwent surgery overnight at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.
As of Tuesday morning, he remained in serious but stable condition in the hospital’s general intensive care unit.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Yoav Kisch visited students wounded in the explosion at Rambam.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited injured pupils in hospital (Photo-GPO/Prime Minister of Israel's Office)[Missing Credit]
Netanyahu instructed the commander of the IDF’s Home Front Command to strengthen public warnings about unexploded munitions, emphasise the prohibition against touching them and conduct extensive searches for additional devices, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Eitan Masauri, 14, who suffered a shrapnel wound to his neck, described how another student handled the explosive device before it detonated.
“He unscrewed it, and then it exploded,” Masauri said. “The guys were thrown into the air. There was a moment of shock for about two seconds.” He added, “I realised I was hurt; I saw that a friend was injured, and I tried to help him.”
Kisch said on Monday that school trips planned near the Lebanese border and in the northern Golan Heights would be rerouted for two days following the fatal explosion.
In a post on X, Kisch said the trip had been approved by the Education Ministry’s situation room after the military authorised activity in the area. He also ordered a review of safety guidelines concerning unexploded ordnance. Trips elsewhere in the country would proceed as usual, with additional emphasis on safety.
Kisch said he visited the injured at Ziv Medical Center in Safed and later joined the prime minister at Rambam. He offered condolences to the bereaved family and said the ministry would continue supporting the families, students and school staff.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Monday that “the heart breaks in the face of the horrific disaster in the north,” adding that, “There are no words that can contain the pain, and no consolation for the terrible loss.”
He said in an X post the tragedy reflected the “heavy and painful price” of Israel’s security situation, which leaves its mark even in places where children should be safe.
Herzog offered condolences to the bereaved family, prayed for the recovery of the injured and thanked security and rescue personnel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expressed sorrow over the boy’s death, posting to X that he shares “in the family’s pain and profound grief, and that of the ORT Ma’alot High School Yeshiva.” He wished a “full and speedy recovery” to those wounded in the incident.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir Itamar Ben-Gvir said, “There are no words that can comfort a family that has lost what was most precious to them of all, a young boy whose entire life was still ahead of him.”
In a post on X, Ben-Gvir offered condolences to the bereaved family and support to the families of the injured amid their worry and uncertainty. He also praised police and security forces operating at the scene and prayed for the injured’s full and speedy recovery.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X that he shares “in the heavy grief of the deceased’s family and wishes a speedy recovery to all the injured. Strengthening the security and rescue forces operating in the field at this moment. All our hearts are with you.”
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