Thursday, August 9, 2012

Police Suspect 'Wave of Nationalistic Arson Attacks'


by Yaakov Lappin

Dozens of firefighting crews, planes needed to control Kiryat Tivon blaze, homes burned, residents evacuated.
Israeli Fire and Rescue Service plane
Photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM

Police said Sunday that they suspect a spate of fires over the past two days is part of a "wave of nationalistically-motivated arson attacks."

It took some 30 firefighting crews, as well as firefighting aircraft, to gain control over a fire in Kiryat Tivon, south of Haifa on Thursday afternoon. The fire marked the second fire in the area in as many days.

Police evacuated several local residents from their homes. Five homes were damaged in the blaze, but no injuries were reported.

The local municipality opened a shelter for displaced people at the Narkisim school in Kiryat Tivon. An old age home was also evacuated.

Cmdr. Hagai Dotan, head of the Coastal Police said that the fires may be a form of nationalistic attack.

Police arrested four Palestinians from the West Bank that they found in the vicinity of a fire near Jerusalem on Wednesday, on suspicion of involvement in starting the blaze.

Dotan said that police and fire services were on high alert due to the threat of additional arson attacks.

Earlier on Thursday firefighters succeeded in gaining control of a fire just outside Jerusalem near Moshav Even Sapir.

Wednesday saw firefighters battle blazes in the same areas, as well as a fire in the eastern Carmel mountains. No injuries were reported in the fires.

Yaakov Lappin

Source: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=280720

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

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