Israeli PM blames fires on ‘arsonists’ terror’

Arsonists are being blamed for the enormous wildfires ripping through Israel for a third day, forcing the evacuation of at least 50,000 people.

Noah Wolfson, of the Meteo-Tech meteorology website, did confirm that a dry period and windy conditions turned the region into a tinder box for flames, whether set or sparked by nature.

(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit). A wildfire burns in Haifa, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016.

A lack of rain combined with very dry air and strong easterly winds have spread the fires this week across the center and north of the country, as well as parts of the West Bank.

One hundred firefighting vehicles were deployed to the areas affected by the conflagration in Israel’s third largest city, while the same number of people were reported injured.

“Every fire caused by arson, or incitement to commit arson, is terrorism for all intents and purposes, and we will bring them to justice”, he said.

“It’s safe to assume that whoever is setting the fires isn’t doing it only out of pyromania”, Alsheich said.

The Israeli security establishment believes that several of the wildfires may be politically motivated cases of arson, though likely isolated incidents, not a broader plot, according to Haaretz.

The Haifa fire is the largest of several blazes to have erupted across the country since November 23.

Israel has reached out for foreign assistance in extinguishing the fires, calling it the “largest firefighting operation since the Carmel disaster” in reference to a deadly 2010 fire that destroyed 12,000 acres of land and claimed 44 lives. He said that Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Cyprus and Italy had sent aircraft and hat two “huge aircraft” would be coming on Thursday evening from Russian Federation, and that a Supertanker 747 would be arriving from the U.S. within the next 24 hours.

Haifa’s mayor said he feared for the city and called on residents with water sprinklers to turn them on to help keep the flames at bay. “It is very risky to the entire area, it could be a big catastrophe”.

The city of Haifa strengthened its firefighting capabilities after bushfires killed 42 people in 2010, but authorities are still struggling to contain the unprecedented blazes.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said residents in eight Haifa neighbourhoods had been told to leave due to six separate fires. “We’re staying with relatives tonight”, she said.

An Israeli squadron of firefighting aircraft has been in action since the fires took hold on Monday, dumping payloads of red fire-retardant material on the flames.

“We have no control of the fire; we are in a state of war”, a senior police official told Channel 2 TV news. Israeli police said they had detained four Palestinians believed to have started the fire, although it was not clear whether it was on goal or by negligence.

By the evening, Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed that the aircraft would be landing in Israel overnight. “When you have simultaneous fires raging you can’t rule out the possibility of arson”.

Early Tuesday, the Arab and Jewish residents of the Neve Shalom coexistence community located on the outskirts of Jerusalem were evacuated after a forest fire burning out of control set fire to areas of the community. Fires later erupted elsewhere near Jerusalem and in the northern Israeli area of Zichron Yaakov.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised severe retribution to anyone found responsible behind the fires.