Tens of thousands flee fires as Israeli leaders blame Arab minority for arson

Firefighters work as a wildfire burns in the northern city of Haifa, Israel November 24, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Following a request for international assistance, 12 firefighting planes and a helicopter arrived on Thursday to help put out the fire. The aircrafts were sent by Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Croatia.

Netanyahu said that the 747 Supertanker, the world's largest firefighting plane, was on its way from Colorado, United States, to Israel.

The Hebrew-language Ynet news site reported that Israel had accepted an offer by the Palestinian National Authority to send four firefighting vehicles to help in the straggle to gain control over the fire.

MetaoTech weather service said the dry and windy weather conditions are expected to continue until the beginning of next week.

Police Spokeswoman Luba Samri said the police are still investigating if arson caused some of the fires.

In 2010, a massive forest fire in the Carmel ridge in northern Israel, which broke out amidst similar weather conditions, raged for days and killed 42 people. The media harshly criticized Netanyahu for procrastinating in asking help from foreign countries. The incident led to a reform in the firefighting services, including the establishment of an airborne firefighting squadron.