Israel's ‘largest ever' wildfires close in on Jerusalem

Telegraph

01-05-2025

Israel 's 'largest ever' wildfires are rapidly closing in on Jerusalem, prompting Benjamin Netanyahu to declare a national emergency and the foreign minister to call for international assistance.
Firefighters and the Israeli military continued to battle the inferno raging on the outskirts of the city on Thursday morning, with fire crews had working almost without a break for over 24 hours.
Shmulik Friedman, the Jerusalem fire brigade commander, said the blaze around the city 'may be the largest there has ever been in this country'.
'It will continue for a very long time. We are far from having control,' he added.
The severity of the situation led the Israeli prime minister to declare on Thursday that 'we are now in a national emergency, not just a local one'.
'The priority right now is defending Jerusalem,' he added.
According to estimates by the Jewish Nation Fund, some 5,000 acres of land were burned on the first day of the crisis, which began at around 9.30am local time on Wednesday near the city of Beit Shemesh.
High winds quickly spread the flames to surrounding areas.
Chaos erupted on Highway 1, which connects Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with the inferno causing people to leave their cars behind and flee the road on foot.
Officials are still unsure of how the fires began, but the police and the intelligence services are investigating the possibility of arson after calls went on Arab social media encouraging Palestinians to fan the flames.
The police arrested a man from an Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem on Wednesday after he allegedly attempted to start a fire in a field south of the city.
Officers 'immediately to a report from a civilian who spotted the suspect', the Jerusalem police department said.
'Upon seeing the police, he tried to flee but was caught after a short pursuit. A lighter, cotton and additional incendiary materials were found in his possession,' it added.
Mr Netanyahu's son meanwhile suggested, without any proof, that Left-wing activists could have started the fires.
'Something here is suspicious. The kaplanist Left has been frantically trying in recent weeks to cancel Independence Day celebrations and the torch-lighting ceremony,' Yair Netanyahu wrote on X, with Left-wing protesters often referred to as 'kaplanists' because of the Tel Aviv street they sometimes demonstrate on.
Isaac Herzog, Israel's president, said that the fire was caused by climate change.
The climate crisis 'must not be ignored. It requires us to prepare for serious and significant challenges and to make decisions – including appropriate legislation', he said.
Israeli officials have evacuated several towns in the area and dozens of people have been injured, although no deaths have so far been reported.
The Channel 12 TV station has also evacuated its staff from a studio in Neve Ilan near Jerusalem.
Israel's military has provided dozens of engineering vehicles 'to form fire lines to prevent the fire from spreading into other areas'.
The army also supplied water tanks, while the air force sent C-130J Super Hercules heavy transport planes to participate in firefighting efforts.
Gideon Sa'ar, the foreign minister, contacted more than a dozen countries on Wednesday for help.
Authorities are now expecting to receive assistance from countries including France, Argentina, Britain, Ukraine, Sweden and Spain.
The first eight firefighting planes were expected to arrive on Thursday from Cyprus and Italy.
The fires began as Israel was preparing to celebrate its 77th Independence Day, which usually sees people taking to parks and forests for barbecues.
On Thursday, however, a nationwide ban on barbecues and open fires was issued.