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Roundup: Israel requests int'l help to put out forest fires

Xinhua, November 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel on Wednesday requested international assistance in putting out forest fires that have been raging across the country over the past two days amidst dry and windy weather.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that Israel has approached several countries with which it has mutual assistance agreements.

He did not elaborate on the identity of the countries, but said that Israel has asked them to send firefighting airplanes and equipment.

Channel 2 TV reported that the request was sent to Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Romania.

The request came amidst an eruption of multiple forest fires, from the Jerusalem area in the south to Nahariya, Israel's northernmost coastal city.

The move also came after weather forecasts said that the dry and windy weather, which stoke the fires, is expected to increase further on Thursday and Friday.

Military officials told the Hebrew-language Ynet news site that Israel's firefighting planes might not be enough to struggle the fires.

"I have instructed the National Security Council to coordinate the requests so we can get the assistance in an orderly way and get aid as quickly as possible," Netanyahu said.

Overnight Tuesday, about 30 firefighting teams and 12 military firefighting crews worked to push away a blaze that broke out near Zichron Ya'akov, a town between Tel Aviv and the northern city of Haifa.

The brushfire damaged dozens of homes and at least ten people, including four toddlers, needed medical care after they inhaled smoke.

At dawn, hours after the fire seemed to be extinguished, it broke out again, prompting more forces to the site. Police said that most residents of at least three neighborhoods are not yet allowed to go back to their homes for fear that the fire might restart.

Also on Wednesday, a massive fire broke out in Nataf, a community 20 kilometers west of Jerusalem, prompting the evacuation of the entire community.

Homes and public structures were caught on fire, a spokesperson for the Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement.

The statement added that the fire also spread towards Neve Illan, where some major television studios are located, and Mevo Horon, a Jewish settlement across the Green Line, in the West Bank.

In the afternoon, as the direction of winds changed, the fire started to move towards Jerusalem, a separate notice by the Fire Service said.

A fire broke out also in the Neve Yair military post in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem, forcing the evacuation of all of the soldiers.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that the police started an investigation into the circumstances of the fire in Nataf. Four contract workers that paved a road near Nataf were detained for questioning. Samri said that the police is checking whether negligence at work caused the fire. Endit