The Jerusalem District Commander of the Israeli Fire and Rescue Service, Shmuel Friedman, said on Wednesday that the current fires between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv could be the largest the country has ever seen.
"We are facing perhaps the largest fire the country has ever seen. We have no idea what caused the fire, and we are not concerned about it. I can say that during the fire, there were several other fires at different points," Friedman added. "The fire changed direction in the last hour and headed east. It is calmer now, but it is expected to intensify soon, with winds reaching 90-100 km/h."
The commander of the Israeli fire brigade in Jerusalem said, "We are still far from controlling the massive fire," while the Israeli fire authority announced that, "at best, we may be able to control the fires by Thursday morning."
The head of the Israeli Fire and Rescue Authority, Eyal Caspi, suffered burns after his clothing caught fire while participating in evacuation operations from widespread wildfires that swept across Israel on Wednesday.
The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Caspi suffered minor burns when he arrived on Highway 1 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with firefighting and rescue teams.
The Defense Minister instructed the army command to deploy forces to assist firefighters in dealing with the raging blazes. Hebrew media reported that firefighting teams were surrounded by flames west of Jerusalem due to strong winds. Reports indicated that the fires were besieging Israeli occupation soldiers at a military base west of Jerusalem.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the fires were caused by Palestinians and stressed the need to execute them.
The Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported that the cost of reconstruction following the fires could reach tens of millions of shekels, while Yedioth Ahronoth reported that forest fires west of Jerusalem have so far consumed 12,000 dunams.
Appeal for help
As firefighters continue to battle the raging fires fueled by strong winds, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar appealed to a number of European and other countries for international assistance in fighting the blazes. He declared a "national emergency" and directed the army to deploy its forces to support firefighting crews in combating the blazes in the Jerusalem Hills area.
According to the private Israeli Channel 12, Sa'ar traveled to Britain, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Argentina, Spain, North Macedonia, and Azerbaijan.
For her part, Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev said that firefighting planes will not be arriving from Greece at this time because it is also preparing for fires, according to the same source.
Regev also issued directives to prepare to operate trains with diesel engines instead of electricity due to fears that fires could spread to the power grid, according to Israeli Army Radio.
Haaretz reported that train services between Jerusalem and Ben Gurion Airport (central), between Binyamina and Haifa (north), and at Modi'in stations (central) were halted due to the fires.
In a related development, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that he "directed the National Security Council to lead international assistance efforts with firefighting aircraft, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." The statement added that "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reached out to countries in its immediate circle, including Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, and Bulgaria."
He continued, "The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and the Fire Department are coordinating to receive aid based on updated situation assessments. All relevant agencies are working to ensure international aid arrives as quickly as possible."
He added, "International aid operations are expected to begin on Thursday, given the restrictions facing firefighting aircraft in flying at night."
As of 18:00 (GMT), Israeli authorities have not announced the cause of the fires. However, the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that police arrested an unidentified person from East Jerusalem "while he was trying to start fires in the area," noting that the General Security Service (Shabak) is participating in the investigation.
Fires still raging in nine areas between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have injured at least 22 people due to smoke inhalation and forced the evacuation of 10 settlements. The Israeli Fire Authority has raised its alert level to its highest level, and authorities have requested assistance from several countries, including Greece, Croatia, Italy, Greek Cyprus, and Hungary.
These developments came amid a significant rise in temperatures accompanied by strong winds, which has led to the expansion of fires in the forested areas between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, according to the Meteorological Authority, which warned of the continued spread of the flames in the coming hours.
Meanwhile, Israel also experienced sandstorms on Wednesday, obscuring visibility in some areas of the south. Hebrew media outlets broadcast video clips showing a powerful sandstorm sweeping through the Beersheba area in the Negev Desert (south).
