Three days ago, due to unusually hot and dry weather and strong winds throughout the land of Israel, over 200 fires broke out in many parts of the nation; beginning on Tuesday in the area of Latrun, not far from Jerusalem Mountains. Residents have been evacuated from their homes in many areas where the fire is spreading.
On Wednesday massive blazing fires broke out in Zichron Yaakov and Gilon in the lower Galilee. They were controlled during the night, allowing some evacuated residents to return to their homes.
In the Jerusalem area, firefighters battled flames all night in the forest while trying to protect nearby villages, the main highway to the Tel Aviv area and vital installations of the Israel Electric Corporation. On Thursday, with winds blowing and weather still dry (temperatures have dropped some) firefighters and emergency services worked hard on the third straight day to gain control over the fires across the land. In the city of Haifa, fires are being spread through many neighborhoods causing evacuations. About 60,000 people were evacuated, among them many elderly and disabled. Some houses were burned to the ground and property lost, but lives have been spared. Most of the injuries are light, the result of smoke inhalation.
In his address to the nation, Israel PM Netanyahu gave praise to the firefighters working around the clock to extinguish the fires. “I salute the firefighters and the pilots, both Israeli and those from abroad,” he said. Currently 14 firefighting aircraft have been sent to Israel from Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, the UK, Italy, Croatia and the US. Some have already helped in the fight against the fires. Netanyahu and Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh visited the fire departments’ command center in northern Israel Wednesday evening, and were briefed on the investigation into the fires.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, told reporters: “Almost 50% of the fires are apparently arson.” He said the police department was bolstering deployment in open areas nationwide to generate deterrence and to help fire detection efforts. “We need to prepare for a new type of terror,” he said on Thursday evening. “The terrorism of arson, which also comes from incitement on social media networks. We will be opening a special unit of investigation into the incidents,” stating that a number of arrests had already been made.
An initial investigation by the Fire & Rescue Authority on Thursday raised a suspicion that at four areas of Haifa the fire was a result of arson. They said that 60-70 percent of the cases were arson and that there was physical evidence, while the rest were a result of negligence fueled by the dry strong winds. Earlier in the day, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh said some of the cases of arson were likely nationalistically motivated.
In the Arab social media there were posts of rejoicing over the fires that are devastating the land of Israel with headlines like: “The Zionist entity is burning”, and of people gloating over Israel’s recent disaster. However, the Palestinian authority offered their help to Israel, knowing that many of the residences of Haifa are Arabs.
Please pray with us about this critical and dangerous fire situation across the land, especially for Haifa, the largest city in Northern Israel.
Father God in heaven, we call on you for help. We desperately need your help for the leaders who are in charge, for all Fire Fighters and all who help. Please Lord send rain to the Land of Israel to put out fires. We thank you, in Yeshua’s Name, Amen.