The fires that raged for two days near Jerusalem were under control Thursday, the Israeli authorities announced, while the firefighters continued to fight the last homes after the reopening of the roads closed the day before.
Thousands of inhabitants were evacuated Wednesday in localities in the center of Israel bordering the highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where the fire spread, forcing the police to cut several main axes.
These fires, fussy by high temperatures and strong winds, were qualified by the authorities as “larger” in a decade. They led to the cancellation on Wednesday of ceremonies planned for the national day of independence and soldiers were deployed to help the firefighters.
“Fire is under control,” said Shlomi Harush, a fire manager on Thursday. “There are only a few homes left. All the teams remain deployed in the affected areas, “he added, warning that the risk of resumption of fire under the effect of the wind persisted. In Latrun, about 25 km from Jerusalem, smoke rose near the monastery, while the firefighters sprayed water on the embers. Neighbors also came to lend a hand.
13,000 ha of burned forest
“We used pipes linked to houses and municipal taps,” said Ahmad Ibrahim, a resident of the village of Abu Ghosh. “We did this because we were worried about the village, to try to prevent the fire from expanding and endangering residents or their houses.”
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The firefighters announced Thursday that 163 teams, supported by 12 planes, remained mobilized to fight these fires which burned around 13,000 ha of forest, according to the police. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had declared “the national emergency” and warned Wednesday that the fires were likely to spread to the city of Jerusalem.
After a night of fight against fire, “all the roads were reopened to traffic” Thursday morning, police said. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, suggested that fires could be of criminal origin. According to the Times of Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the authorities arrested “18 people suspected of criminal fire, one of whom was taken from the fact”.
Forest lights have already occurred at that time of year in Israel, but the phenomenon is not considered as usual.
Army intervention
Magen David Adom’s rescue service announced that it had taken care on Wednesday to 23 people who suffered from light burns or inhaled smoke. Seventeen firefighters were injured, Kan public television said.
The army said on Thursday that soldiers, supported by aviation, remained deployed in the center of Israel and that “dozens of vehicles” had been aligned across the country to block the road to fire. She said she sent around fifty fire trucks in the affected areas.
“It’s really sad because we knew the weather, we knew, so to speak, that it would happen and yet we have the impression that the authorities were not prepared enough, with large planes that can drop large quantities of water,” said Yuval Aharoni, a 40 -year -old man evacuated around the city of Modiin.
“Many police officers arrived, many firefighters, but that didn’t really help. The fire had already completely invaded the whole area, “said Yosef Aaron, a student, showing the flames and the smoke that rose near a highway.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday that bombers of water were expected from France, Romania, Croatia, Italy and Spain. Cyprus and Serbia have also announced to send helicopters to Israel.
