| Security forces crack down on arsonists, incitement |
Some 23 arson, incitement suspects arrested as flames die down • Firefighters worked all weekend to put out massive fires in the Jerusalem area • PM Netanyahu, Public Security Minister Erdan vow to punish arsonists to full extent of law.
Shlomo Cesana, Itsik Saban, Efart Forsher, Yori Yalon and Israel Hayom Staff
Some 2,500 firefighters have worked to put out the flames over the last five days
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Photo credit: Oren Ben Hakoon  |
After five days of blazes, firefighters are putting out the last flames in a national emergency that left 180 people injured and 560 homes burned. Some 2,500 firefighters have worked tirelessly to put out the 630 fires started, using more than 1.5 million tons of water and fire retardant.
The fires continued over the weekend, and concerns remain that weather conditions and what has been called "arson terrorism" may lead to new fires.
The weekly cabinet meeting is set to be held in Haifa Sunday, as the government continues to manage the crisis.
Some 23 suspects have been arrested on suspicion of arson or incitement to arson, and more than 30 people have been investigated since the first fires broke out.
The Israel Police and the Public Security Ministry explained that the arrests were made possible with the cooperation of the Israeli Air Force and Israel Fire and Rescue Services. Over the weekend, a 22-year-old man from Nazareth was arrested on suspicion of starting a fire in the city.
The remand of a 22-year-old arson suspect from Kafr Kanna was extended by two days. The suspect is believed to have started a fire in the Beit Keshet Forest. A 16-year-old from Sajur suspected of setting a fire to a grove between Sajur and Beit Jann had his remand extended by two days as well.
Meanwhile, a helicopter from the airborne patrol and prevention unit found a fire in the Haruvit Forest on Sunday morning. A firefighting team was called in to extinguish the flames. The circumstances of the fire are being investigated.
Also on Sunday, a fire was reported in the town of Anatot. Firefighters found two gas tanks burning on site. The fire was extinguished without injury. At the same time, a fire was discovered in a grove near Hadera. Firefighters had gained partial control over the blaze on Sunday morning, saying it no longer posed a danger to nearby buildings.
Upon touring burn sites Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured citizens that arsonists would be punished "to the full extent of the law."
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that the arsonists should be treated as terrorists and that "the arsonists with nationalist motives should have their homes destroyed and we should encourage their deportation from the country."
Furthermore, the Israel Fire and Rescue Services investigative team found that the fire started in Zikhron Yaakov was "definitely" started with "malicious" intent.
Fire investigation teams are assisted by sniffer dogs, surveillance teams and helicopter crews, but, per Erdan's instructions, police are focusing efforts on tracking down online incitement to arson.
IDF troops are also working to locate arsonists. In recent days, security forces have arrested more than 10 suspects. On Friday night, they caught three suspects in a car with two full bottles of gasoline, an empty bottle that had held gasoline, a bag filled with cloth, gloves and matches.
On Saturday, IDF troops and police found a suspect identified by an Israel Nature and Parks Authority ranger for having set fire to a grove in the Gush Etzion region. On Thursday night, they further caught three arson suspects at the entrance to Ariel.
Meanwhile, Judge Orit Lifshitz of the Beersheba Magistrates' Court extended until Monday the remand of Anas Abu Dabas, the nephew of an Islamic Movement official, who is suspected of incitement to arson. According to police, Abu Dabas posted on Facebook: "Fire has not yet reached some of the groves. We must call upon our disturbed youth to do what must be done." Abu Dabas' attorney, Eyal Avital, denies the accusations against his client.
Over the weekend, the fires spread to the Jerusalem area, where a number of homes caught fire, but no serious injuries were reported.
In Neve Tzuf, where there have been more than 20 arsons with nationalist motives reported in the past, residents were already expecting fire when they were forced to evacuate Friday night after a blaze near the community was reported. This time, too, the fire is believed to have been nationalistically motivated arson.
The fire spread rapidly and was described as a "catastrophe" by Judea and Samaria Fire and Rescue Spokesman Assaf Averas. "When we entered the town, it looked like a bomb had gone off," he said. "A two-storey building was burning and the one behind it caught fire in a domino effect. Gas tanks were blowing up and all you could see everywhere you looked was fire -- giant balls of fire skipping from building to building, to the cars, eating up everything and destroying it. I haven't seen anything like that in a long time, and I was there for the Carmel Forest fire."
With the help of volunteers are security forces, firefighters managed to gain control over the blaze. Still, 15 homes were completely destroyed, and another 40 were damaged to varying degrees.
On Saturday afternoon, Israel Electric Corporation workers arrived at the town to help rebuild destroyed infrastructure. The water system was also repaired on Saturday, as a few residents returned to their homes.
Another major fire erupted in Nataf on Friday, where it took firefighters 24 hours to put out the flames. There are suspicions that the fire was started by Molotov cocktails thrown from a neighboring village, but the cause of the fire has not yet been verified. Jerusalem Police District Commander Yoram Halevy ordered increased patrols in the area to help prevent arson attempts.
Twenty-one firefighting planes aided Israel in fighting the fires that swept the country. Saturday, planes from Turkey were documented drew water off the coast of Netanya, and other country's similar efforts were also recorded over Haifa and the Jerusalem Mountains, including the American Supertanker, the largest aerial ישfirefighting craft in the work, which helped extinguish the blaze in Nataf.
The first planes that reached Israel from abroad were three from the Hellenic Republic. Greek Maj. Stelios Kokoridis, a pilot who had previously fought fires in Israel during the 2010 Carmel conflagration, said, "We're dumping water from a height of 30 meters, and at this height, we see the people and understand that we're really saving their lives. And there's no better feeling than that. We fought fires in Israel with the same determinedness with which we fight fires in Greece. I feel like I'm fighting a fire in my home, as if I'm now in Greece. It's always good to help a friend in trouble; it's a shame that we meet each other in bad times like this."
Immediately after the Greek came three planes from Turkey, two from Italy and one from Cyprus. Russia sent two Beriev Be-200 planes capable of carrying 12 tons of water that began operations Friday morning and took part in extinguishing the blazes around Natal and Nahf.
Friday, a C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft belonging to the Cypriot Air Force brought some 70 Cypriot firefighters to aid Israeli efforts. They landed on Saturday morning and were dispersed to various burning locations.
Two planes from Croatia and also planes from Azerbaijan and Ukraine worked in the area of fires in Neve Ilan and Nataf. Egypt sent two firefighting helicopters.
Aiding Israel (Photos: AFP, Motti Kimchi, Nature and Parks Authority)
Firefighting plane over Haifa
Foreign firefighting plane over Haifa
Egyptian firefighting helicopter over Tel Aviv en route to a fire (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spain also sent planes, and Belarus, Britain, Bulgaria, Czechia, Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland all offered their assistance.
The American Supertanker, a Boeing 747-400, came from Colorado Springs in the US. It took off from Ben Gurion Airport shortly after 3pm and remained in the air for about two hours. It took off towards the north, circled over the sea for about 40 minutes—during which time the Israel Police and firefighting services argued over employing it—then flew south and turned towards Jerusalem. It dumped flame retardant in the Nataf forest before returning to Ben Gurion. The Supertanker being the only aircraft capable of fighting fire at night, the other air crews return to Tel Aviv hotels overnight.
Plane in Nataf area (Photo: AFP)
Ukrainian airplane in Nahf area (Photo: Firefighting and Rescue Services)
Turkish plane collecting water off coast of Netanya (Photo: AFP)
Aid from Turkey (Photo: AFP)
Turkish plane collecting water off coast of Netanya (Photo: AFP)
Firefighting in Nahf area (Photo: AFP)
Supertanker in action near Nataf (Photo: AFP)
Supertanker in action near Nataf (Photo: AFP)
Palestinian firefighters after helping to extinguish Nahf fire (Photo: AFP)
Saturday evening, three planes and a firefighting team arrived from France.
Some of the foreign firefighting aircraft are capable of filling their tanks with seawater directly from the Mediterranean. The Israeli planes, contrarily, are only able to take off and land on runways, as they were original agricultural spraying aircraft.
Palestinian firefighters who aided in Sha'ar HaGai (Photo: Omri Efraim)
Cypriot firefighters and their military transport (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Cypriot firefighters en route to Israel (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Help from Cyprus (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
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