A tragic explosion during an annual school trip in northern Israel on Monday claimed the life of a 14-year-old student and injured 24 others, including students and teachers from ORT Ma’alot Yeshivah High School.

The explosion occurred near Mitzpeh Pe’er on the Ramim Ridge in the Upper Galilee, close to Israel’s border with Lebanon. The group was hiking when an unexploded munition detonated, scattering shrapnel and injuring those nearby.

According to the initial investigation, the group had stopped for a break when one of the students noticed a piece of ammunition lying on the ground. He reportedly picked it up and placed it in his bag. A short time later, the device exploded, causing casualties.

The IDF believes the munition was likely a cluster bomb fired by Hezbollah toward the area during the war that failed to detonate and remained on the ground.

Further details emerged when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited injured students at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. During the visit, 14-year-old Eitan Masauri, who was wounded by shrapnel in his neck, recounted that another student had been handling the object and unscrewed part of it shortly before it exploded.

Masauri described the terrifying moments after the blast, saying that students were thrown into the air and some landed in the bushes. Despite his own injury, he tried to help a wounded friend.

Magen David Adom reported that 24 people were injured in the explosion: 22 students and two adults. Two of the injured were in serious condition, ten sustained moderate injuries, and twelve were lightly injured.

The 14-year-old boy who was critically injured passed away at the scene despite prolonged resuscitation efforts by medical teams.

Large numbers of rescue personnel were dispatched to the area, including ambulances, mobile intensive care units and helicopters. The IDF deployed three Air Force helicopters, medical teams, Unit 669 search-and-rescue personnel and a bomb-disposal team from the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.

MDA personnel described a difficult scene, with injured students scattered along the trail. Some students had already begun helping their wounded friends and attempting to stop bleeding before emergency teams arrived.

Responders treated the injured and evacuated them to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Ziv Medical Center in Tzfas and the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.

The tragedy has raised questions about how unexploded ammunition remained accessible in an area used for organized hikes.

According to the initial reports, the area had previously been inspected and cleared by the police and IDF. Nevertheless, the munition remained on the ground, where a student could pick it up.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch said the trip had been approved in accordance with established procedures. A preliminary examination found that the route had been inspected and that the required safety guidelines had been followed.

Students had also received a briefing warning them about unexploded ammunition.

Following the incident, Kisch ordered a 48-hour suspension of school trips in areas along the northern border and in the Golan Heights.

Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the head of the IDF Home Front Command to reinforce public warnings about unexploded ammunition and the strict prohibition against touching such objects. He also called for searches across wider areas to locate additional unexploded munitions that could endanger civilians.

Police sappers and IDF explosive-ordnance specialists continued examining the scene to establish the precise circumstances of the explosion and determine whether additional dangerous remnants remain in the area.

The investigation is also examining how the munition came to be present along the hiking route and how it was possible for a student to pick it up.

The incident is a painful reminder that unexploded ammunition can remain deadly long after fighting has ended. In areas that came under heavy fire during the war, remnants of rockets, missiles and cluster munitions may continue to pose a serious danger to civilians.

The Ma’alot community, the injured students and their families are now facing the aftermath of a tragedy that began as an ordinary school outing.