ISRAEL – Police have arrested 13 people\u00a0on suspicion of arson\u00a0after wildfires tore through Israel, causing thousands to be evacuated from homes.<\/p>\n
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The arrests came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of emergency and branded the arson “terrorism”.<\/p>\n
Firefighters kept battling the flames in wooded hills around Jerusalem and in northern areas on Friday. Support also came from Palestinian firemen and emergency teams from Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, Russia and Turkey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
On Thursday and overnight, tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Haifa, where the fire is now under control.\u00a0 People took\u00a0shelter in sports halls and other municipal buildings.<\/p>\n
Mr Netanyahu was clear about the motive, declaring. “A price will be paid for this arson-terrorism.”\u00a0 He said the arson was carried out by “elements with great hostility toward Israel.\u00a0 We cannot tell yet if this is organised, but we can see a number of cells operating.”<\/p>\n
Minister Gilad Erdan said\u00a0the 13 suspects were\u00a0“minorities”, alluding to them being either Arab Israeli citizens or Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Haifa, a city with a population of about 300,000, was nearly engulfed by the fire before the flames were reined in. The fires managed to spread rapidly thanks to strong winds and a lack of wet weather over the last few months.\u00a0 Forests and woodlands across Israel are bone dry and forecasters say it is likely to stay that way for some time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISRAEL – Police have arrested 13 people\u00a0on suspicion of arson\u00a0after wildfires tore through Israel, causing thousands to be evacuated from homes. The arrests came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of emergency and
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