Israel arrests 13 on suspicion of arson over mass wildfires

A wildfire erupted in Israel on Tuesday and is still rampaging across the country.

Tens of thousands of residents of the Israeli port city of Haifa, who had been evacuated as wildfires closed in, were allowed to return home Friday. Earlier on the same day, firefighters battled the flames in wooded hills around Jerusalem and in northern areas with the help of Palestinian firemen.

Russia, Cyprus, Turkey, Croatia and Greece are helping Israel deal with the fires which are spreading especially quickly due to strong winds and extremely dry weather conditions.

Israeli police have arrested 12 people on suspicion of arson over a series of wildfires that have burned around the country for four days. City officials said the situation was under control but that at least 700 homes had been badly damaged or destroyed.

Arab Knesset members accused the government and right-wing elements of taking advantage of the crisis to incite opinion against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Haifa yesterday to meet with fire and police chiefs.

Fires continue to rage across Israel.

Russian Emergencies Ministry Be-200 amphibious aircraft have protected the Israeli city of Haifa from new wildfires, a spokesperson for the Russian Emergencies Ministry told RIA Novosti Sunday.

In 2010, 42 people died in a fire on Mount Carmel, just south of Haifa.

Ayman Odeh, an Arab Israeli Knesset lawmaker who lives in Haifa, appeared on TV on Friday morning, criticizing those Israeli politicians and media who were blaming the fires on Palestinians.

Netanyahu said he had asked for a “Super Tanker” fire fighting aircraft to be sent from the United States. The fire at Zichron Ya’akov, now extinguished, was definitely arson, according to Chobotaro.

Homes have also been damaged in fires affecting parts of the occupied West Bank and in an area close to Jerusalem, where some properties were lost in the blaze.

The hardest-hit city is Haifa, where some 80,000 people have had to flee, and police said hundreds of people were evacuated from a village near Jerusalem overnight. Local witnesses say the blaze was caused by a firebomb hurled from a neighboring Arab village.

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich said Friday night that investigators know who set fire to the woods near Nataf, and that authorities “were prepared to thwart” those involved through “deterrence and catching suspects, through observers and patrols in the sky and on land”.

The fires began three days ago at the Neve Shalom community near Jerusalem, where Israelis and Arabs live together in a peace cooperative. At the same time, Israel Today reports, numerous Arabs living in Israel have been ready to provide shelter for those who had to evacuate from the burning areas.