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Disastrous Fires Out of Control in Israel (Video)

Friday, November 25, 2016 12:30

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(Before It's News)

November 25 2016

Fires burning out of control in Nazareth and Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel. Arson? Terror? Drought-caused?

Update: the Haifa fire is under control, the others remain out of control and are spreading.

Haifa fires: Tens of thousands of Israelis flee city

Netanyahu threatens those responsible for the fires with “full legal force” as smoke transforms northern city’s skyline.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have been fleeing wildfires in the northern city of Haifa, with the prime minister warning that any proof of arson would be treated as “terrorism”.

Dry conditions after a two-month drought, in addition to strong winds, have fuelled the fires, which have also spread to other parts of the country.

Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that anyone who may have started fires deliberately would be punished.

“We are facing arsonist terror. In front of arsonist terror we are also facing incitement and also arson. For us they are the same. And we will bring our full legal force to get those responsible,” he said.

“It’s a crime in every possible way and for us, it is also terror in every possible way. People can get burned. It has already happened.”

Thousands evacuated

The smoke, which has transformed Haifa’s skyline, forced authorities to order about 80,000 people to leave the city, where several homes have been destroyed.

Firefighters were working to douse the flames but some homes in the worst-affected areas were already beyond repair.

The main highway between Haifa and Tel Aviv shut down for some time on Thursday, while authorities tried to put out the flames.

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

Israeli authorities arrested four Israeli Palestinians, but a judge released them soon afterwards citing a lack of evidence.

Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said: “At the moment we are investigating how the fires began. We strongly believe that the fires could have been started by individuals who fled the scenes.

“There are a number of reports that we’ve received, and therefore, at the moment we are continuing to both put out the flames, deal with the major situation which is taking place in and around the city of Haifa.”

Several nations, including Turkey, have offered assistance, as more strong winds were predicted in the coming days.

Source: Al Jazeera News

Israel wildfires: Haifa residents back home; fires under control

By Andrew Carey and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

Jerusalem (CNN)Tens of thousands of residents of the Israeli port city of Haifa were allowed to return home Friday, as firefighters who have been battling wildfires for the past four days brought the flames menacing the city under control.

Israeli authorities have warned that any fires deliberately set will be regarded as terrorism.

By Friday, 12 people had been detained in connection to the fires, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, although it was not immediately clear if they were suspected of arson or negligence.

The blazes scorching northern Israel began Tuesday in the northern community of Zichron Ya’akov, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Haifa. Fires broke out the following day near Modi’in in central Israel.

Authorities had ordered the evacuation of 60,000 people in Haifa as fires menaced 11 neighborhoods. Strong winds Friday morning fanned new flames.

But a spokesman for Israel’s Coast district police, which includes Haifa, told CNN early Friday afternoon local time that all Haifa residents were now free to return to their homes.

Mayor Yona Yahav said Thursday that 700 homes in the city had been damaged or destroyed, describing the scale of the fire as “unprecedented in Haifa.”

Uri Chobotaro, of the Coast region fire and rescue services, said all the fires in Haifa are now out but there is always the danger of flames reigniting from smoldering embers. The fire at Zichron Ya’akov, now extinguished, was definitely arson, according to Chobotaro.

A new fire broke out Friday afternoon near the Kibbutz Ma’ale Hahamisha, west of Jerusalem near the Nataf region, Jerusalem District Fire Service spokesman Udi Gal told CNN.

Twenty planes and 30 fire trucks are fighting this new blaze, Gal said.

Israeli police said about 100 families were being evacuated from the area, as the fire blazed out of control.

Netanyahu says arsonists will be punished

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said if the fires were deliberately set it would amount to “terrorism,” and vowed to severely punish anyone who “tries to burn parts of Israel,” Reuters reported.

“Every fire that was caused by arson, or incitement to arson, is terrorism by all accounts. And we will treat it as such.”

Comments

Total 4 comments

Fokofpoes

Isn’t Haifa the gateway for an oil pipeline from Turkey or some shit?

Nov 25, 2016, 12:33 pm 0 Reply
YourNumbr1Fan

I’m sure the world can’t get lucky enough to see Israel completely burned to a crisp.

Nov 25, 2016, 2:30 pm 0 Reply
- Fokofpoes
  
  Peace bro. /
  
  Nov 25, 2016, 2:54 pm 0 Reply
  - Fokofpoes
    
    I forgot, the comment thingy doesn’t like backslash (or backflash, for that matter), V.
    
    Nov 25, 2016, 2:57 pm 0 Reply

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