Firefighters have extinguished blazes that
ravaged Israel and the occupied West Bank for five days and forced tens
of thousands to flee, authorities said Sunday, blaming arsonists for
some outbreaks.
There were no deaths but 122 people were treated for injuries, mainly smoke inhalation, medical officials said.
Around 700 homes were damaged or destroyed as the flames fed by high winds ripped through thousands of hectares (acres).
Firefighting
planes from a list of countries flew low over the hills of the occupied
West Bank and Israel, dropping tonnes of water and retardants.
At
one point last week, flames towered over an area near Jerusalem, and
residents on Sunday surveyed charred homes and businesses.
"There
are no active sites left," fire and rescue service spokesman Yoram Levy
told AFP. "Since last night (Saturday) it's pretty calm. We have no new
activity."
Levy said firefighters dealt with about 2,000 fires in Israel and the West Bank, 20 of them major.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/image/323730" style="display:block;text-align:center">
Firefighters helps extinguish a new fire
that broke out in the Israeli town of Nataf, west of the Arab Israeli
town of Abu Ghosh, along the border with the occupied West Bank on
November 25, 2016
Ahmad Gharabli, AFP
Israeli authorities suspect some were set deliberately and linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Defence
Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday 17 of 110 fires in the West Bank
were so far determined to be arson, without elaborating.
Speaking
at the Israeli settlement of Halamish, where dozens of homes were
damaged at the weekend, he said Israel should respond to any arson by
building more settlement homes.
Police have arrested 23 people suspected of setting fires and interrogated others.
- On high alert -
http://www.digitaljournal.com/image/323731" style="display:block;text-align:center">
Israeli security forces and volunteers
help firefighters battle to control a fire that broke out in the Israeli
town of Nataf, west of the Arab Israeli town of Abu Ghosh, along the
border with the occupied West Bank on November 25, 2016
Ahmad Gharabli, AFP
However, Palestinian authorities also joined in the
massive international firefighting effort and have pointed to damage to
their crops and land.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
made a rare phone call to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday
to thank him for those efforts.
Levy noted forces were still "on
high alert" because of dry conditions and high winds not expected to
change before rain expected on Wednesday.
Highlighting the continued risk, a forest fire was extinguished Sunday near Kiryat Malakhi in southern Israel.
Israeli
firefighters had since Tuesday been battling wildfires throughout the
country which on Thursday hit major city Haifa, forcing tens of
thousands to evacuate their homes.
Israel's cabinet met in Haifa
Sunday in an act of solidarity, with Netanyahu saying he hoped to form a
multi-national firefighting force in the future.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/image/323825" style="display:block;text-align:center">
Firefighting planes from Israel and
countries including Russia, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain and Canada
dumped tonnes of water and retardants on wildfires
Ahmad Gharabli, AFP
"We will help you rebuild your homes and your lives
forthwith and this is the main goal of this special cabinet meeting this
morning in Haifa," he said.
Around 1,000 residents of Halamish near Ramallah in the West Bank had to flee overnight Friday to Saturday.
Eighteen
homes there were destroyed and another 35 had various degrees of
damage, a spokeswoman for settlements in the area said.
Residents suspected the fire was started deliberately and authorities were investigating.
- 'Act of war' -
"I
got my family out and moved them a few hundred metres (yards) down the
road, and I came back to knock on my neighbours' doors," Doron Cohen,
50, told AFP at the settlement on Sunday.
The smell of smoke was heavy in the air, the debris of burnt homes blackening the ground.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/image/323882" style="display:block;text-align:center">
Israeli settlers grieve over their burnt
houses in the Halamish settlement, also known as Neveh Tzuf, in the
occupied West Bank on November 27, 2016, after 45 homes were damaged or
completely destroyed by fire
Menahem Kahana, AFP
When he returned, flames were shooting high, said Cohen, whose house was badly damaged.
He alleged arson was the cause, calling it "an act of war".
Firefighting planes from Israel and countries including Russia, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain and Canada battled the outbreaks.
A US Supertanker, considered the largest firefighting aircraft in the world, joined the operation on Saturday.
Palestinian
authorities sent 41 firefighters and eight trucks on Friday to help in
Haifa and the Jerusalem area. They returned to the West Bank late
Saturday.
Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said tens of thousands of hectares (acres) of forest and shrubland had burned.
Fires
in Palestinian areas of the West Bank were also extinguished by
Saturday night, with the Ramallah-based Civil Defence saying it had
dealt with 143 blazes which burned crops and trees but caused no
casualties.
Israel's right-wing politicians have spoken out harshly in response to suspicions of arson.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/image/323883" style="display:block;text-align:center">
Israeli settlers inspect their burnt
houses in the Halamish settlement, also known as Neveh Tzuf, in the
occupied West Bank on November 27, 2016, after 45 homes were damaged or
completely destroyed by fire
Menahem Kahana, AFP
At Halamish on Sunday, Education Minister Naftali
Bennett said that "the person who threw the firebomb -- which was found
-- that lit the fire here tried to murder the residents of an entire
settlement, no less".
Dozens of olive trees near the Palestinian
village of Deir Nizam near Halamish were also destroyed, and five
Palestinian villages were without electricity overnight, residents told
AFP.