Wildfires spread to West Bank as thousands flee

Thousands of people in Israel have fled wildfires that tore across central and northern regions and that have now spread to the West Bank village of Jebiya.


 People were seen trying to extinguish the flames that erupted in the woods.

In Haifa city, people went back to check their burned houses and Mayor of Haifa Yona Yahav said that the damage was only to property.

Wildfires forced tens of thousands of residents to flee the city of Haifa, as leaders blamed arsonists for some of the blazes and branded them terrorists.

The fires have been burning in multiple locations for the past three days but intensified yesterday, fuelled by unseasonably dry weather and strong easterly winds.

With fires burning in the forests west of Jerusalem, around Haifa, on central and northern hilltops and in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the government sought assistance from neighbouring countries to tackle them.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that any fire caused by arson in a series of blazes that have spread across central and northern Israel would be considered as "terrorism".
 [rte.ie]
25/11/16
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