Ramim Ridge Blast: ORT Ma'alot Student Killed on School Hike

A student from ORT Ma'alot Yeshiva High School was killed and some two dozen people were wounded on Monday afternoon when an unexploded cluster munition detonated during the school's annual hike near Mitzpe Pe'er on the Ramim Ridge, close to the Lebanese border. The IDF identified the device as a Hezbollah cluster munition and declared a mass-casualty event. The Israel Fire and Rescue Authority said a preliminary investigation pointed to one of the students having placed the munition in his bag, where it later exploded.

Hiking in the area is now on hold. A situation assessment at the scene decided to suspend hikes there in the coming days until the full picture of the incident is clear. N12 News reported that Education Minister Yoav Kisch is expected to announce a scaling back of trips to the area, effective Tuesday. Police called on anyone who comes across unexploded ordnance or a suspicious object to keep their distance and report it on the 100 emergency hotline.

Arutz Sheva, citing preliminary findings, reported that the group had stopped for a break when one of the students spotted the ordnance lying on the ground. He picked it up and put it in his bag. Shortly afterward, it went off, seriously injuring students and staff standing nearby.

Roughly 50 students and staff from grades seven through nine were on the outing, Yeshiva World News reported. Ynet reported that the group was on the first day of its annual trek along the Israel National Trail.

Carrying wounded students and teachers towards waiting IDF helicopters

Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service, received the first call at 2:53 p.m. Fourteen ambulances were dispatched, and the IDF sent three Israeli Air Force helicopters, the Unit 669 search-and-rescue force and bomb disposal experts from the Yahalom combat engineering unit. MDA paramedic Osama Masoud, among the first to arrive, said he "saw many injured people lying on the ground — all children," and that resuscitation was performed on one victim at the scene. "All we could think about was providing lifesaving treatment, stopping the bleeding, and evacuating them from the scene as quickly as possible," he said.

Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa admitted three teenagers and one adult to its trauma unit. Galilee Medical Center treated six of the wounded, one of them seriously hurt. The figures for Ziv Medical Center in Safed differ: The Jerusalem Post reported it was treating 14 victims, while Arutz Sheva put the number evacuated there at 13. The Health Ministry opened an additional site at Ziv for those suffering from shock, with a dedicated team for children and teenagers.

Kiryat Shmona police station commander Elad Ben Lulu said the report reached police through the 100 hotline at around 3 p.m. Asked about the size of the device, he said: "Probably small, but there's no way to know yet." The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the circumstances of the blast remain under investigation.

Officials insisted the outing had been cleared. Police Commissioner Danny Levy, named as Daniel Levi by The Jerusalem Post, said the trip had apparently received the necessary approvals. The hike was approved by the Education Ministry, which relied on IDF guidelines. "There is Education Ministry approval. We don't do things without approvals," Ma'alot-Tarshiha Mayor Moti Ben David said. He added that an operations center staffed by social workers and psychologists had been set up to care for the students, and a bus was sent to collect those who were not hurt.

The Prime Minister's Office said Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with MDA Director General Eli Bin, Kisch and his military secretary, and asked that the injured be evacuated to hospitals as quickly as possible. "At this difficult time, my heart is with the family of the boy who was killed in the explosion and with the wounded and their families," Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said. The Education Ministry described the blast as "an extremely serious incident."

Orly Silvinger, CEO of the child safety organization Beterem, urged parents to talk to their children. "To a child, unexploded ordnance may look like an intriguing, harmless object, but it can be deadly," she said. Beterem's figures show three children killed and 10 hurt by landmines, explosives or unexploded ordnance over the 2016–2026 period.

Further updates to follow.