Quotes
There is a real concern, based on past experience, that Palestinians will try to ignite more fires in Judea and Samaria and throughout Israel,
he said, using the biblical name for the area
There is harm to nature and also harm to people, and we are holding 18 people at the moment who are suspected of arson, one of whom was caught in the act,
he saidWe’re doing everything we can to finish in the coming hours because the wind gusts can bring us back to where we started,
she said by telephone
The fire is under control,
said Shlomi Harush, a senior official with the firefighting service
We used water hoses connected to homes and municipal taps installed along the streets,
Ahmad Ibrahim, a resident of Abu Ghosh village, told AFPThere are only hotspots left... all teams remain deployed across the affected areas,
he told AFP, warning thatOvernight dozens of engineering vehicles started operating throughout the country to form lines to prevent the fire from spreading into other trees,
a military statement said on Thursday
All routes have been reopened to traffic,
according to a police statementThe IAF (air force) continues assisting in the effort to extinguish the fires,
it saidMay God burn them as they burned the people of Gaza and their tents.
Another account said
I tried my best to explain that these were firefighting helicopters that were supposed to upgrade Israel's air capabilities
he wrote yesterdayIt's just very sad because we knew the weather, we kind of knew that would happen and still we feel like they weren't ready enough with the big planes that can drop large amounts of water."
Speaking from near the city of Modiin as fires burnt on a nearby hillside, resident Yuval Aharoni, 40, said
A lot of police arrived, a lot of firefighters, but it didn't really help. The fire had already completely taken over the whole area here,
student Yosef Aaron told AFP, speaking on the side of a highway with flames visible in the distanceWe need to bring as many fire engines as possible and create firebreaks well beyond the current fire lines... We are now in a national emergency, not just a local one,
he added in a video statementThe decision is aimed at reallocating forces to deal with the fire... and preparing for the worsening weather conditions according to forecasts,
a statement saidBased on assessments of the fire’s spread, the district commander has instructed teams to prepare for the potential evacuation of additional communities, including deploying buses in case they are needed,
the police said in a statement
This is perhaps the largest fire ever in the country,
Jerusalem’s district fire department commander Shmulik Friedman told reporters on Wednesday afternoonThe western wind can push the fire easily toward the outskirts of (Jerusalem) - and even into the city itself,
he said in a video sent by his officeThe priority right now is defending Jerusalem,
he added
Our volunteers were searching through cars abandoned on the highway for bodies; it brought them back to Oct. 7,
United Hatzalah ambulance service President Eli Beer told Fox News Digital