Israel wildfires send 12 people to the hospital and close key Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway
Video footage showed vehicles stranded nearby as flames spread throughout the area, while another video showed the fire approaching a Catholic monastery.
The fire was being whipped up by strong winds and hot, dry weather. The cause was being investigated. Help was on the way from across the region, including aircraft from Italy, Croatia and North Macedonia, Israeli officials said.
Helicopters were dropping water to battle the flames from above, while other firefighting teams were responding on ATVs.
"We hope to reach 150 firefighting teams," Israel 's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.
The fire occurred as Israel observes Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of attacks, ahead of Independence Day on Thursday. Many of the planned events were being canceled, including the official national ceremony in Jerusalem. The event had been set for Mount Herzl, near the fire zone. Instead, a recording of the dress rehearsal was being broadcast.
Those taken for hospital treatment mostly suffered from smoke inhalation, while another 10 people were treated in the field, Magen David Adom Ambulance services said. Residents living close to the fire zone were evacuated, police said.
Officials at the monastery, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said it was too early to assess the damage, if any. The religious communities had been safely evacuated, they said.
"We pray for the safety of everyone," their statement said.
As flames advanced towards the Tel Aviv-to-Jerusalem highway, many people abandoned their cars and fled on foot or hitched rides with other vehicles heading in the opposite direction.
In 2010, a massive forest fire burned for four days on northern Israel's Mount Carmel, claiming 44 lives and destroying around 12,000 acres, much of it woodland.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
7 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Spain weather hell as search called off for two swept away in floods & woman hit by lighting – as waterspout pic emerges
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SPAIN has been pummelled by devastating freak storms and floods, with two people swept away by the water and one woman struck by lightning. The catastrophic weather has seen streets filled with water and major disruption to transport across several regions. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 8 One video shared widely on social media shows a water spout forming over the town Credit: X 8 Hundreds of people jammed Barcelona-Sants station after all trains were suspended Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 8 Rescuers look for two people who went missing amid floods Credit: EPA 8 Firefighters look for two missing people along the Foix river Credit: Reuters Dramatic images shared online have shown the devastation inflicted by the elements across Spain. Two people, a woman and a young girl, are reported to have been swept away by floods in the northeastern Catalonia region. While firefighters have scoured the area at the weekend to find them, the search has since been suspended. The pair are believed to have been carried away by the Foix River while crossing a bridge in the coastal town of Cubelles - which has been among the worst hit areas. read more in world news MISSILE STORM Iran's president injured in Israeli blitz before emergency hatch escape According to the town's mayor, water flow had reached 200 cubic metres per second. One video shared widely on social media even shows a water spout forming over the town. Elsewhere, a woman was rushed to hospital in Valencia after suffering cardiac arrest when the tree under which she was sheltering from the rain was struck by lightening. Sources told La Vanguardia that the woman was with her daughter, who has limited mobility, when the downpour began - leading them to take shelter under a nearby tree. Spanish Prime Minster Pedro Sanchez urged citizens to follow "civil protection instructions" and take "great caution". "We are closely monitoring the situation in several communities with warnings for heavy rains and storms," he posted on X. Spain hols hotspot rocked by earthquake with buildings shaking and tremors felt in over 50 towns It comes as Spain faced violent storms over the weekend. Severe storm and hail warnings were issued across the country - and 100mm of rain fell in just one hour at a popular holiday hotspot. Weather warnings were put in place across 25 provinces by the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) on Satuday. Many of these areas endured torrential downpours and flash floods, with roads becoming so waterlogged they resembled rivers in some towns. In jaw-dropping images shared online, cars can be seen partially submerged trapped in murky water as the floods took their toll. Spain's rail company even suspended its Catalonia services on Saturday, DW has reported. 8 A woman walks across a flooded street Credit: Reuters 8 A man walks by flooded cars as search and rescue operations take place Credit: Reuters But while some areas battled rain and floods, a forest fire broke out near a popular tourist hotspot in the south. The fire broke out in Mijas on Sunday morning and was brought under control by 7.25am, the Spanish Eye has reported. Nine groups of forest firefighters and five fire engines were deployed to tackle the blaze. Southern Spain was also struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 this morning. The quake shook hundreds of towns and villages across Andalusia and the Levante. It startling sleeping residents across the region and even collapsed parts of ceilings in an airport and a car showroom. A worker at Almeria Airport told local outlets: 'We heard some noises one after the other and then a loud bang and a great cloud of dust appeared. 'It was a real scare for us. 'There were airport workers having their first coffee of the day but luckily no one was injured.' 8 A firefighter extracts water from the Hospital Comarcal de l'Alta Penedés Credit: Getty
NBC News
09-07-2025
- NBC News
How a confluence of extreme weather, geography and timing created Texas' flood disaster
While existing weather models can forecast flash flooding in advance, even the best models struggle to represent internal storm structure and to predict where, within a few miles, the hardest rainfall will strike. In this case, the off-the-charts colors on Friday morning indicated that the south fork of the Guadalupe River was taking a direct and prolonged hit. Then, instead of moving on, the storms stalled. Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said that the thunderstorms hovered above the Texas Hill Country river, dumping 10-12 inches of rainfall in about six hours. The series of storms 'perfectly aligned with the South Guadalupe River Basin,' he said. The area is prone to floods and was filled with campers near the river's edge. If the storm had been even five miles in another direction it would not have produced as much destruction, he said. It's difficult to know exactly how much rain fell. The basin that flooded does not have a rain gauge despite being in an area covered by the TexMesonet monitoring system, which was created after a flash flood disaster that struck Wimberley, Texas, over Memorial Day weekend in 2015. But Friday's downpour was a record-setting for that location and a storm seen once every 1,000 years, Nielsen-Gammon said. While National Weather Service forecasters had warned broadly about flash flooding, meteorologists and forecasting experts said the best weather models could not predict precisely where the most intense rainfall would fall, or that the deluge would stall out over a flood-prone basin. 'Even the most detailed weather forecasting models at this point are just barely capable of resolving individual convective storms,' Nielsen-Gammon said, adding that it would be 'next to impossible' to predict well in advance whether successive storms would train over the area, stall out and produce intense flooding in such a confined geography.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- The Independent
Photos of Camp Mystic for girls after the deadly flash floods in Texas
Camp Mystic was overrun by flash flooding that started on Independence Day. Rapidly rising waters ripped through the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp, killing at least 27 people. Others are still missing.
