Fires west of Jerusalem, blamed on ‘interceptor or missile bursts’

The fires which broke out west of Jerusalem are not linked to the interception of a missile launch from Yemen claimed by the Houthi rebels, Israeli firefighters announced on Monday.

Initially, firefighters and the Israeli army indicated that fires in the Bet Shemesh sector, about twenty kilometers from Jerusalem, had been caused by debris resulting from the interception of a missile in from Yemen.

“The start of the fire, which was limited – two cars and brushwood burned – is of criminal origin, according to the elements we found,” the fire department spokesperson told AFP. the Jerusalem area, Oudi Gal. “The link was made with the interceptions because of the temporal coincidence between them and the start of the fire and because the interceptions often cause fires, but in this case it is not linked,” he said. he added, specifying that the fires had been brought under control.

Warning sirens sounded in the Bet Shemesh area and many areas of central Israel shortly before 6 a.m. (0400 GMT).

According to a military statement, the Israeli Air Force “intercepted a projectile which approached Israel from Yemen” but which “did not enter Israeli territory”.

In Yemen, Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack “against the Nahal Sorek military base, southeast of Jaffa”. “The shot was precise and started a fire near the targeted site,” said military spokesperson Yahya Saree. According to The Times of Israel newspaper, the Nahal Sorek base houses a munitions center.

The Houthis, who control large swaths of Yemen, are part, along with other groups such as the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas or the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, of what the Islamic Republic of Iran calls the “axis of resistance” against Israel.

Since the start of the war sparked by Hamas’ bloody attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the Houthis have carried out several attacks against Israel as well as against ships off the coast of Yemen, claiming to act in solidarity with the Palestinians. .

Furthermore, the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, claimed responsibility for six successive drone attacks on Monday against “targets” in the north and south of Israel. The Israeli army said it had “managed to intercept four drones that were approaching Israel from the east. Two were intercepted before entering Israeli territory.”