Student Carries Unexploded Ordnance, Causing Fatal Blast in Northern Israel

A tragic explosion of unexploded military ordnance near the settlement of "Yiftah" in the Upper Galilee has resulted in one fatality and 19 injuries. The deceased was among the injured who succumbed to critical wounds despite extensive resuscitation efforts by medical teams from Magen David Adom and the Israeli military. The incident involved a group of 20 students and teachers from the "Ort Ma'alot" religious middle school.

Initial investigations by security agencies and explosives experts revealed that one of the middle school students found the unexploded ordnance, identified as a potential old Hezbollah rocket, and placed it inside his school bag. The ordnance later detonated with immense force inside the bag while the students and teachers were gathered near a road at the end of their school trip.

The father of one of the injured students stated that the trip was organized, licensed, and had all necessary security permits, with parental consent forms signed. He suggested that the area contains unexploded ordnance and that a child may have accidentally touched it, leading to the explosion.

In response to the disaster, military helicopters and civilian ambulances conducted intensive airlifts of critically injured students to Rambam Hospital in Haifa and Ziv Hospital in Safed. The Ma'alot Tarshiha municipality activated hotlines and an emergency room to provide psychological and social support to the families of the students from "Ort Ma'alot" religious school, coordinating with the Ministry of Education.

Itzik Shoshan, Director of the Yarden brigade in Magen David Adom, described the scene as highly complex, with numerous injured individuals lying on the ground. Medical teams immediately provided critical and life-saving treatment in the field to eight seriously injured individuals, alongside treating others with minor injuries and shock. He emphasized the race against time to evacuate the wounded to hospitals.