- Title: Firefighters battle wildfires across Israel and West Bank
- Date: 26th November 2016
- Summary: NATAF, ISRAEL (NOVEMBER 26, 2016) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING FIRE IN NATAF NEAR JERUSALEM VARIOUS OF PLANE EXTINGUISHING FIRE FIREFIGHTERS ON SITE PALESTINIAN FIREFIGHTERS CLOSE OF PATCH OF PALESTINIAN FLAG PALESTINIAN FIRE ENGINE (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) COORDINATOR OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE TERRITORIES (COGAT), COLONEL SHARON BITON, SAYING: "The Palestinian firefighters fought shoulder- to-shoulder together with the Israeli firefighters with a joint target of saving people and homes." VARIOUS OF DAMAGE IN NATAF HAIFA, ISRAEL (NOVEMBER 26, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKE BILLOWING FROM HAIFA NEIGHBOURHOOD FIRE ENGINE ARRIVING AT SITE SMALL FIRE BURNING IN WOODS VARIOUS OF CHARRED BUILDINGS DAMAGED STAIRWELL CHARRED PHOTO OF CHILDREN BURNT-OUT BOOKS HAIFA RESIDENT ALON HOFFMAN CLIMBING UP STAIRCASE IN A DESTROYED HOME HOFFMAN PICKING UP CHARRED BOOKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) HAIFA RESIDENT, ALON HOFFMAN, SAYING: "Well, the fire took on the houses but... basically I came at 11:00 (0900 GMT) to take my mother from this house, she lives here, and we live in a house next to it, and by the evening the house was gone, that's what I can tell you." WOMAN GOING THROUGH PERSONAL BELONGINGS ANOTHER WOMAN CLIMBING UP STAIRS, TO ASSESS DAMAGE INSIDE HER SISTER'S HOME CLOSE OF TEARFUL WOMAN FIREFIGHTER PUTTING OUT FIRE
- Embargoed: 11th December 2016 12:07
- Keywords: Israel wildfire Haifa Halamish Nataf firefighters West Bank
- Location: NATAF AND HAIFA, ISRAEL / HALAMISH , WEST BANK
- City: NATAF AND HAIFA, ISRAEL / HALAMISH , WEST BANK
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Environment,Weather
- Reuters ID: LVA0015A2YPMV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS VIDEO WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Wildfires continued to flare across central and northern Israel on Saturday (November 26) for the fifth day in a row, forcing residents to flee a West Bank settlement and destroying homes.
Israeli police said that six foreign firefighting planes are battling fires in several areas, including Nataf near Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Halamish.
In Nataf, where the fire was raging for several days, the Israeli firefighters received help from the Palestinians.
Israeli Colonel Sharon Biton of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said the Palestinian Authority had sent eight firefighting teams to assist Israel.
At first four teams were sent to the northern city of Haifa, but in the past 24 hours all Palestinians teams arrived in the Jerusalem area, he added.
"The Palestinian firefighters fought shoulder- to-shoulder together with the Israeli firefighters with a joint target of saving people and homes," Biton said.
Israeli police reported that some 45 homes were damaged in the West Bank settlement of Halamish and more than 1,000 residents were evacuated to nearby settlements, but no injuries were reported.
Two days after wall of flames raged through central neighbourhoods of the northern city of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, residents returned to charred homes in hope of recovering personal belongings.
Across the city firefighters were still on the out-watch, battling small fires.
Haifa resident Alon Hoffman told Reuters that the fire destroyed his mother's flat in several hours. Another tearful woman returned to her sister's home to assess the damage.
The fires have been burning in multiple locations for the past five days, fuelled by unseasonably dry weather and strong easterly winds.
Israeli police arrested 13 people on Friday (November 25) on suspicion of arson, authorities said.
Firefighters kept battling the flames in wooded hills around Jerusalem and in northern areas, with support from Palestinian firemen and emergency teams from Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, Russia and Turkey. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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