Israel controls forest fires near Jerusalem

The exact cause of the fires was not clear, but Israel’s prime minister, Benjamín Netanyahu, said he had stopped 18 suspicious people, including whom, he said, in fraganti had been surprised. However, Aryeh Doron, spokesman for the Israeli police, said he had only stopped three people for suspicion of fire.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu said that strong winds, dryness and open areas had created a “mortal combination” that fueled the fires. On Thursday, the Israeli police arrested a 19 -year -old from a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem after saying that he had written on social networks in support of forest fires.