Photo by
Courtesy the family/TPS-IL on 13 October, 2026
Elazar Yair Wilensky Identified as 13-Year-Old Killed in School Hike Explosion
Jerusalem, 13 October, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- The 13-year-old student killed Monday in an explosion involving unexploded Hezbollah ordnance during a school trip was identified as Elazar Yair Wilensky, a ninth-grade student.
Wilensky was the youngest of five siblings. His family described him as “smart, wise and full of joy for life. A loving and good friend, whose whole life was ahead of him.”
Elazar Yair Wilensky, 13, who was killed during a hike on Oct. 12, 2026, when a classmate picked up an unexploded Hezbollah cluster submunition. Photo courtesy of the family/TPS-IL
The explosion occurred at Mitzpeh Peer, an overlook near Kibbutz Neot Mordechai and the Lebanese border. Approximately 50 students in grades seven through nine from the ORT Ma’alot High School Yeshiva in Ma’alot-Tarshiha were participating in the school outing.
According to a preliminary Israel Defense Forces (IDF) investigation, a student picked up an unexploded Hezbollah cluster submunition and placed it in a personal bag. The device apparently detonated while it was being handled.
The explosion killed Wilensky and injured 24 others.
A 61-year-old teacher wounded in the explosion underwent surgery at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and remained in the intensive care unit in serious but stable condition, the hospital said Tuesday.
Police Commissioner Danny Levy said authorities would investigate the circumstances of the incident and consider suspending similar trips in the coming days.
“It is likely that we will instruct the IDF to stop these trips in the coming days to re-examine whether the State of Israel is endangering the children by letting them go out,” Levy said at the scene.
“We will build the picture comprehensively and announce where it started, why it happened and how it happened,” he added.
The Education Ministry said the trip had been approved by its situation room. However, the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) had previously posted signs prohibiting hikes in the Naftali Mountains due to concerns about similar incidents.
Following the explosion, Education Minister Yoav Kisch announced a 48-hour suspension of educational trips in the area.
The Ma’alot-Tarshiha Municipality said welfare teams and educational psychological services were providing emotional support to students, families and school staff affected by the tragedy.
