PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that Italy and Croatia were expected to send three firefighting planes to assist. Israel has also reached out to Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and other nations.
Wildfires continued to rage across the outskirts of Jerusalem, prompting mass evacuations, closing major highways, and triggering a large-scale emergency response involving hundreds of firefighters, military support, and international aid appeals. The fires erupted in multiple locations amid searing heat and strong winds.
Shmulik Friedman, Jerusalem District Commander for the Fire and Rescue Service, warned that the fire “may be the largest there has ever been in this country” and was far from being contained. “Regarding our activity, it will continue for a very long time. We are far from having control [over the fires],” Friedman said at a press briefing in the evacuated community of Eshtaol, according to The Times of Israel.
