Watan-The Israeli Fire and Rescue Authority declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, summoning all its teams and personnel and canceling all leaves, following massive wildfires that have spread throughout the Jerusalem area since the early morning hours.
Dozens of firefighting teams are currently working to extinguish fires that broke out in multiple areas—more than 100 of them in the Jerusalem region alone—supported by eight planes and a helicopter. Several towns near forested areas have been evacuated due to the uncontrolled spread of flames exacerbated by hot and dry weather conditions.
On Highway 6, the main artery linking northern and southern Israel, dozens of crews have been battling fires in the southern segment since this morning. Parts of the road were closed due to heavy smoke and advancing flames.
It’s worth noting that in 2021, wildfires in the occupied Jerusalem hills burned through 25,000 dunams of forests planted by the Israeli state after the Nakba. Those fires stripped the mountains bare, exposing the centuries-old stone terraces once built by Palestinian farmers for agricultural use.
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