Disturbing details are coming out from the tragedy that occurred during the ORT Ma’alot Yeshiva High School annual school trip on the Ramim Ridge in the Upper Galilee, in which 14-year-old student Elazar Yair Wilensky was killed, and 24 others were wounded.
According to testimonies by the students, during the hike the teens found several pieces of military ordnance, including two missiles, and they even collected some of them. The students also said that they held onto a cluster munition that they found for over an hour, without being aware of the danger, until it detonated while they took a break for lunch.
The students claimed that they were not briefed or instructed on how to behave if they found ordnance or weapons. The Ministry of Education implicitly rejected the claims and clarified that as part of the trip's approval, explicit safety instructions were provided, including a complete prohibition on touching the falls.
Along with the eyewitness reports, difficult questions are being raised regarding the authorization of the route, after it was found that JNF-KKL notified officials responsible for coordinating the hikes that the area was closed due to war damage.
The trip was part of a three-day hike along the Israel National Trail. Ninth-grade students set out from the yeshiva in Ma’alot in the morning and hiked in the Ramim Ridge area, near the Lebanese border.
According to the testimonies, during the hike the students noticed several items of military ordnance scattered in the area, including two missiles. Some of the teenagers collected items they found, and at one point a cluster munition was also picked up.
The students carried the munition for more than an hour, until the group reached the Mitzpe Pe’er area and stopped for lunch after the Mincha afternoon prayer. During the stop, the munition exploded, seriously injuring students and accompanying staff.
Eitan Masauri, a 14-year-old student who sustained a shrapnel injury to his neck, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited the wounded at Rambam Medical Center, that one of the students who discovered the munition began playing with it and unscrewed part of it, after which the explosion occurred. "Guys were thrown through the air; some fell into the bushes. There were two seconds of shock," Masauri described.
The student said that despite being injured himself, he tried to help one of his friends. "I realized I was injured. I saw that a friend was hurt, and I tried to help him," he said.
One of the central questions raised by the testimonies concerns the students’ preparation for a trip in an area where munitions from the war remained. Students said they had not received instructions before setting out on the trail on how to respond if they encountered unexploded ordnance or other military items.
They also said they did not notice a warning sign posted near the area where they were staying, which stated that there was a danger from unexploded ordnance and that entry to the area was prohibited.
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