A fire earlier this week also broke out near a military base in Jerusalem, in what was a suspected arson attack.
The Israeli army said it had evacuated some 200 soldiers from a military base in the occupied West Bank on Friday due to a fire breaking out nearby, the Anadolu Agency reported.
Citing the news website Israeli Ynet, Anadolu said the soldiers were evacuated from a base near the southern Kfar Etzion illegal settlement as a fire broke out in an open area near the base, Anadolu reported, citing the news website Israeli Ynet.
The army did not, however, give cause for the fire.
The Times of Israel reported that the military had evacuated “most soldiers” from the base.
According to the paper, the Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze spread from the settlement area to the military base, “adding that it was not caused by arson.”
About 20 fire-fighting crews and six planes were involved in getting the fire under control, said Ynet.
Kfar Etzion is an Israeli settlement built on Palestinian land in the southern occupied West Bank. Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories are considered illegal.
‘Molotov Cocktails’ – Arson Suspected In Fire Near Jerusalem Military Base
‘Molotov Cocktails’
A fire broke out near a military base on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus late on Tuesday.
Israeli authorities suspected arson as the cause of that fire, according to Israeli media.
The Israel Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement, cited by The Times of Israel, that the fire started “on the southern slopes of the village of Issawiya, apparently due to the throwing of Molotov Cocktails, and progressed at great speed due to the winds” toward a hospital and the Ofarit base. It also threatened the Hebrew University Mount Scopus.
#BREAKING 🔥 #Israel/#WestBank: Suspected arson near Kfar Ezion
The fire spread to the military base area of the spatial division and as a result it is being evacuated by soldiers now.
📂 27 Apr 2022 — Israel plans to “impose a temporal and spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque” pic.twitter.com/AAorulRmdC
— Asgard Intel 🛡️ WW3.INFO (@AsgardIntel) June 28, 2024
The fire service suspected it may have been arson, the report said, “as the blaze apparently started in several locations at the same time.”
Police have opened an investigation into the fire, and “are conducting parallel investigative actions and searches for suspects in the area,” The Jerusalem Post said.
Tensions have been high in East Jerusalem as well as the occupied West Bank since the October 7 resistance operation.
(PC, Anadolu)
