Fire Raging In Israel: How Did It Start?

Muqata is liveblogging the fire raging in Northern Israel.

According to the news, there have been approximately 40 casualties thus far:

Around 40 people are believed to have been killed in a devastating forest fire raging out of control near Israel’s northern city of Haifa, the country’s ambulance service said on Thursday.

Officials described the inferno as among the worst in the nation’s history, with hundreds of firefighters on the ground and in the air battling to tame the blaze.

Israel’s ambulance service Magen David Adom said its paramedics were on the ground treating people caught in the flames.

“There are about 45 casualties, of whom about 40 are dead,” the ambulance service said in a statement.

There is no definite word on the cause of the fire.

Elder of Ziyon quotes a source indicating that the fire started in 4 different areas, but there has not yet been a final determination on whether it was arson or not--however he quotes someone from the comments who indicates it appears the fire started in one place.

Meanwhile, Maan reports very matter-of-factly that the "settlers" set the fire:

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian-owned olive groves near the evacuated settlement of Homesh, near the West Bank city of Nablus Thursday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Ghasan Daghlas, who is charged with monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an: "The settlers set fire in the area of Khahlet Awana, adjacent to evacuated settlement."

He said Palestinians are banned from entering the area because of the presence of an Israeli military installation.

Apparently it never occurred to Daghlas that someone who intends to intentionally start a fire will not care much about a ban.

Muqata reports that MK Ayoub Kara of Likud announced on Channel 10 TV that the blaze was "an attack" set deliberately and demands the death penalty for the terrorist-arsonists who started the fire.

We will have to wait for more news clarifying what happened.

See also: The Carmel Fire--And An International Show Of Support For Israel (Update: Palestinians Help Too)
and
Two Suspected Arsonists Arrested Near Carmel

Technorati Tag: Fire In Carmel.