The explosion was caused by an unexploded ordnance in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border.
One person was killed and 19 others injured in an explosion in northern Israel near the Lebanese border, according to initial official figures, in an incident that remains under investigation.
“I share the deep grief of the family of the boy who was killed in the explosion while traveling near the northern border, and I wish a speedy and full recovery to all those injured,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on X, adding that authorities were investigating the cause of the explosion.
The Israeli army, which dispatched helicopters to the scene, said an initial examination showed that the explosion was probably caused by an unexploded ordnance believed to have been fired by Hezbollah, according to the AFP news agency.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the victim was a 15-year-old who was on an annual school trip.
Citing medical sources, Israeli police said earlier that “the first suspicions are that it was caused by an unexploded ordnance, as a result of which around 20 people were injured to varying degrees of severity.” The explosion occurred near the community of Neot Mordechai, between Kibbutz Manara and Kibbutz Yiftach.
The incident injured students and staff members of a religious high school while they were on an outing, said the municipality of Maalot-Tarshiha, a town in the north of the country.
There is a large military deployment in the north of the country and parts of southern Lebanon as Israel continues attacks it says target the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said he had visited the wounded being treated at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, in a message on X.
“I ask all Israeli citizens: strictly adhere to the directives of the Home Front Command and under no circumstances touch remains or suspicious objects,” he said.
Thousands of rounds of ammunition
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the explosion had “mobilized” Israeli political echelons, with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu visiting the region and Israeli National Security Minister Ben Gvir canceling a political commitment that had been on his agenda.
Odeh said some of the injured were believed to be in critical condition, but few details were released.
“There is very little specific information about what happened, what the source of this explosion was, but it certainly serves as a reminder that northern Israel, the upper Galilee and especially the border with Lebanon remains an area where there is a military operation, with the Israeli army deployed and where thousands of munitions have been used over the past three years,” Odeh said.
Tens of thousands of Israelis living in the north of the country were forced to leave the region after the Lebanese group Hezbollah began firing rockets following Israel’s 2023 genocidal war in Gaza.
In March, Israeli forces began occupying southern Lebanon following a resumption of hostilities following the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The army said soldiers and helicopters had been dispatched to northern Israel, a region from which Israeli forces bombard Lebanon, whose Hezbollah militants periodically fire rockets across the border.
Odeh says most residents did not return because they “didn’t have confidence” in the government’s ability to protect them.
“They saw the extensive damage the rockets were inflicting on their communities and many of them, according to reports, have not been encouraged to return because the situation remains unstable,” she said.
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