Two children were killed Tuesday as a mortar left by Israeli forces exploded near Hebron, medics and police said.

Hamza Zayed Jaradat, 12, and Zayed Juma Jaradat, 12, were killed in the blast in Wadi Reem, east of Hebron in the southern West Bank, medics told Ma’an.

Hebron police chief Ramadan Awad said the boys were killed when an old Israeli mortar exploded.
 
Natheer Juma Jaradat, 16, and, Yasser Muhammad Jaradat, 19 and Hisham Zayed Jaradat were injured in the explosion and taken to Hebron Governmental Hospital.

The group had been playing in a field filled with scrap metal in the nearby village of Sier, Awad said.

An Israeli military spokesman said an initial investigation indicated that the blast was caused by "unexploded ordnance that was ignited" but had no further details.

(Ma’an News)