23 children died in such incidents between 2021 and 2025, according to data from Beterem, Safe Kids Israel.
United Hatzalah warned on Sunday against the dangers of leaving children inside hot cars, with the latest victim being a 5-year-old boy who died the same day after he was allegedly left inside his family's car in Lod for about two hours.
"It can happen to loving, responsible parents," the organization warned. "Before you leave your car, stop for one second and look in the back seat."
The Lod boy was found unconscious inside the vehicle and showing signs of heatstroke. Magen David Adom teams performed advanced resuscitation efforts before evacuating him in critical condition to Shamir Medical Center, Assaf Harofeh, where doctors pronounced him dead.
According to preliminary details under investigation, the family returned home after a drive during which the boy had fallen asleep. Family members are suspected of leaving the vehicle while the child remained inside.
About two hours later, the father realized that his son was not in the house. He returned to the vehicle, found the boy unconscious, and called MDA.
Officers from the Lod police station in the Shfela district arrived at the scene and opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the boy's death. Police began collecting evidence and investigating how the child came to be left inside the vehicle.
MDA medic Efi Rosenblum, who lives nearby, received the call through the organization's first responders app and was the first medic to arrive at the scene. Rosenblum said that as he approached, people signaled for him to stop and brought the boy to him after removing him from the vehicle.
"They took a child out of a private vehicle who, according to them, had been locked inside for a prolonged period," Rosenblum said. "He was very hot to the touch, and I immediately began resuscitation efforts."
Additional MDA teams and a mobile intensive care unit arrived shortly afterward, and resuscitation efforts continued as the boy was taken to the hospital.
Senior MDA medic Haim Shavit and MDA medic Yosef Yitzhak Sagiv said the boy was unconscious, had no pulse, was not breathing, and was showing signs of heatstroke.
"We began performing advanced resuscitation efforts that included chest compressions and ventilation, and evacuated him in a mobile intensive care unit to the hospital in critical condition while we fought for his life," the medics said.
The boy was taken to the trauma room in the pediatric emergency department at Shamir Medical Center, Assaf Harofeh, where he was pronounced dead.
The Lod incident is the latest in a series of cases involving children who were forgotten or became trapped inside vehicles.
According to data from Beterem, Safe Kids Israel, 23 children died in such incidents between 2021 and 2025. Another 53 children were injured and survived, while children were rescued in time and unharmed in an additional 1,513 cases.
The circumstances surrounding Sunday's incident remain under investigation.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.