Israeli firefighters on Friday reined in a blaze that had
spread across the country's third-largest city of Haifa and forced tens of
thousands of people to flee their homes, but continued to battle more than a
dozen other fires around the country for the fourth day in a row. The over
60,000 Israelis evacuated began returning to their charred homes to assess the
damage as police and firefighting units remained heavily deployed in the Haifa
area for fear that the fires could be reignited due to the dry, windy weather.
Though no deaths or serious injuries have been reported, several dozen people
have been hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Hundreds of homes were damaged and
in a rare move, Israel called up military reservists to join overstretched police
and firefighters and made use of an international fleet of firefighting
aircraft sent by several countries. A Boeing 747-400 Supertanker, the world's
largest fire-fighting aircraft capable of carrying 75 tons of fire retardant,
is scheduled to arrive later Friday to help the efforts, though officials said
it may not be needed by then. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a small
village in the forests near Jerusalem was evacuated overnight as several homes
there caught fire. Other small fires were under control, he added. Overall,
Rosenfeld said 12 people have been arrested across Israel on suspicion of
arson. The country's leaders have raised the possibility that Arab assailants
had intentionally set the blazes. Israel has been on edge during more than a year
of Palestinian attacks — mostly stabbings — that have tapered off but not
completely halted in recent months. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
blamed Palestinian incitement for fueling those attacks and echoed the charge,
pointing to celebrations in some Arab circles over the fires. Netanyahu said
investigators are working overtime to apprehend anyone involved in setting off
fires, according to abacnews.