A student at an Israeli high school died on Monday and around two dozen other people were hurt after a suspected leftover bomb from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exploded while a group was hiking near the Lebanese frontier, officials said.
The Israeli military sent helicopters to the site. Its early assessment suggested the blast most likely came from an unexploded munition fired by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group.
Cluster munition from earlier fighting blamed for blast
Israeli police said the device was probably a cluster bomb left over from fighting roughly three years ago. It detonated in the hands of a student who had picked it up.
Police added that the school had obtained approval for the outdoor trip in the area. That region has been struck repeatedly by Hezbollah during successive rounds of fighting, while Israel has continued bombing the group. Israeli authorities said the victim was 14 or 15 years old.
Injured taken to hospitals across northern Israel
Magen David Adom, the emergency service, said two teenage boys were seriously hurt by shrapnel, among the 24 people wounded. One of its medics, David Radko, said that when he reached the scene, casualties lay strewn along the road, and some were trying to help injured friends.
He added that some bystanders had even fastened tourniquets on their companions to stop the bleeding. The wounded were transported to three medical centres in northern Israel. Footage from Ziv Hospital in Safed showed paramedics pushing patients on stretchers into the building.
The municipality of Maalot-Tarshiha said both students and staff from a religious high school were among those hurt during the outing.
Netanyahu and rivals react ahead of October 27 vote
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited wounded students at Rambam hospital in Haifa, accompanied by Education Minister Yoav Kisch, his office said on Monday evening. A video released by the office showed him beside a 14-year-old boy with a neck wound from shrapnel.
The attack comes ahead of elections on October 27, in which Netanyahu faces a difficult contest for another term. His critics accuse him of failing to do enough to keep Israelis safe after three years of war, even though Gaza has been quiet recently. Israel has devastated Gaza since Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023.
Gadi Eisenkot, the main challenger in the race, said he was praying for the swift recovery of the wounded and sent strength to rescue crews. Yair Golan, leader of the centre-left Democrats, said years of intermittent fighting with Hezbollah had left the northern border zone with risks that could not be ignored. He urged a thorough inspection of northern hiking areas and the removal of unexploded ordnance.
Lebanon conflict and the June framework agreement
Earlier this year Hezbollah entered the wider Middle East war by firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with Iran, which had been attacked by Israel and the United States. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion of Lebanon. Lebanese authorities say more than 4,300 people have been killed there since March.
In June, Israel and Lebanon agreed a framework deal that calls for Hezbollah to disarm, Israeli forces to withdraw gradually from the south, and the Lebanese army to deploy in the region. Violence along the border has eased since then.
