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2 May 2025
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Israel declares national emergency as wildfires force evacuations; 20 firefighters injured
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On 30 April 2025, Israel and the West Bank experienced major fires around Jerusalem, in at least 100 different locations through the Judean Mountains area. Israel has requested help extinguishing the fires from neighbouring countries, declared national emergency and deployed The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops to help extinguish the fires. Additionally, communities located about 30 kilometres west of Jerusalem, including Neve Shalom, Beko’a, Ta’oz, Mevo Horon, Mishmar Ayalon and Nahshon have been evacuated and at least 45 people have been injured. High winds that have fanned the fires led to the cancellation of many events celebrating Israel’s foundation in 1948. Several countries were sending firefighting aircraft to Israel on Thursday. By the evening of 30 April, 163 firefighting squads and 12 airplanes were deployed by the Fire and Rescue Services. The Home Front Command and Technological and Logistics Directorate dispatched over 50 fire engines, several search and rescue teams and supplied more than 300 000 litres of water. The IDF used dozens of construction vehicles.
as crews battled for a second day to extinguish a wildfire that had shut down a major highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and sent drivers scrambling from their cars.
At least 12 people were treated in hospitals on Wednesday, mainly due to smoke inhalation, while another 10 people were treated in the field, Magen David Adom Ambulance services said. Twenty firefighters have been lightly injured, Tal Volvovitch, a spokesperson for Israel’s fire and rescue authority, said.
Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Ukraine and Romania were sending planes to help battle the flames, while several other countries, including North Macedonia and Cyprus, were also sending water-dropping aircrafts. Israeli authorities said 10 firefighting planes were operating on Thursday morning, with another eight aircraft to arrive during the course of the day.
Israel’s fire and rescue authority lifted the evacuation order on approximately a dozen towns in the Jerusalem hills on Thursday.
The fire broke out around midday in the hills outside Jerusalem on Wednesday, fuelled by hot, dry conditions and fanned by strong winds that quickly whipped up the flames burning through pine forests. Several communities were evacuated as a precaution as the smoke turned the skies over Jerusalem grey. Many of the country’s Independence Day celebrations were cancelled as security forces were diverted toward the fire.
The fire has burned about 20 square kilometres and is the most significant Israel has seen in the past decade, according to Volvovitch.
Three Catholic religious communities who were forced to evacuate from their properties on Wednesday were also able to return on Thursday, said Farid Jubran, the spokesperson for the Latin Patriarchate. He said their agricultural lands, including vineyards and olive trees, suffered heavy damage, and some of the buildings were damaged. But there were no injuries, and historic churches were not affected.
The main highway linking Jerusalem to Tel Aviv reopened on Thursday, a day after the flames had encroached on the road, forcing drivers to abandon their cars and flee in terror. On Thursday morning, broad swathes of burned areas were visible from the highway, while pink anti-flame retardant dusted the top of burned trees and bushes. Smoke and the smell of fire hung heavy in the air.
Israel often sees fires in the summertime, but such strong fires this early in the year are unusual. Many of Israel’s forests are planted rather than natural.
One of the organisations that manages Israel’s forests said that the fires had perfect conditions to spread: a winter with little rain, hot and dry weather and exceptionally strong winds that are shifting direction constantly.
Anat Gold, the director of Israel’s central region for the Jewish National Fund, known by its Hebrew acronym KKL, which manages forests, plants trees and promotes settlement in the Holy Land, said the fire was mostly contained. But she added that workers were struggling to plough buffer zones and fire breaks as the same spots ignited repeatedly in the quickly changing winds.
Gold said climate change, which has resulted in decreased rainfall in the region, contributed to the fire’s ferocity. “Of course when there’s a series of drought years, it’s a fertile ground for fires,” she said.
In 2010, a massive forest fire burned for four days on northern Israel’s Mount Carmel, claiming 44 lives and destroying around 12 000 acres, much of it woodland.
Sources: Associated Press, The Guardian, Reuters
as crews battled for a second day to extinguish a wildfire that had shut down a major highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and sent drivers scrambling from their cars.
At least 12 people were treated in hospitals on Wednesday, mainly due to smoke inhalation, while another 10 people were treated in the field, Magen David Adom Ambulance services said. Twenty firefighters have been lightly injured, Tal Volvovitch, a spokesperson for Israel’s fire and rescue authority, said.
Italy, Croatia, Spain, France, Ukraine and Romania were sending planes to help battle the flames, while several other countries, including North Macedonia and Cyprus, were also sending water-dropping aircrafts. Israeli authorities said 10 firefighting planes were operating on Thursday morning, with another eight aircraft to arrive during the course of the day.
Israel’s fire and rescue authority lifted the evacuation order on approximately a dozen towns in the Jerusalem hills on Thursday.
The fire broke out around midday in the hills outside Jerusalem on Wednesday, fuelled by hot, dry conditions and fanned by strong winds that quickly whipped up the flames burning through pine forests. Several communities were evacuated as a precaution as the smoke turned the skies over Jerusalem grey. Many of the country’s Independence Day celebrations were cancelled as security forces were diverted toward the fire.
The fire has burned about 20 square kilometres and is the most significant Israel has seen in the past decade, according to Volvovitch.
Three Catholic religious communities who were forced to evacuate from their properties on Wednesday were also able to return on Thursday, said Farid Jubran, the spokesperson for the Latin Patriarchate. He said their agricultural lands, including vineyards and olive trees, suffered heavy damage, and some of the buildings were damaged. But there were no injuries, and historic churches were not affected.
The main highway linking Jerusalem to Tel Aviv reopened on Thursday, a day after the flames had encroached on the road, forcing drivers to abandon their cars and flee in terror. On Thursday morning, broad swathes of burned areas were visible from the highway, while pink anti-flame retardant dusted the top of burned trees and bushes. Smoke and the smell of fire hung heavy in the air.
Israel often sees fires in the summertime, but such strong fires this early in the year are unusual. Many of Israel’s forests are planted rather than natural.
One of the organisations that manages Israel’s forests said that the fires had perfect conditions to spread: a winter with little rain, hot and dry weather and exceptionally strong winds that are shifting direction constantly.
Anat Gold, the director of Israel’s central region for the Jewish National Fund, known by its Hebrew acronym KKL, which manages forests, plants trees and promotes settlement in the Holy Land, said the fire was mostly contained. But she added that workers were struggling to plough buffer zones and fire breaks as the same spots ignited repeatedly in the quickly changing winds.
Gold said climate change, which has resulted in decreased rainfall in the region, contributed to the fire’s ferocity. “Of course when there’s a series of drought years, it’s a fertile ground for fires,” she said.
In 2010, a massive forest fire burned for four days on northern Israel’s Mount Carmel, claiming 44 lives and destroying around 12 000 acres, much of it woodland.
Sources: Associated Press, The Guardian, Reuters
