Several fires broke out on Friday, October 9 in northern and central Israel, which is experiencing extreme heat, leading to the evacuation of thousands of people according to the authorities.
The fires are taking place near inhabited but also wooded areas, and the state of alert remained high on Friday because of the heat wave that hit the entire territory.
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Some 5,000 people were evacuated near the town of Nof Hagalil (north) where seven houses were damaged, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement, without mentioning any casualties.
Several homes were also evacuated near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Oranim, in the occupied West Bank, due to a fire, it is said.
A spokesperson for the fire department said in another statement that dozens of teams as well as firefighting planes were trying to put out the flames in different places.
The army said on Twitter to participate in the evacuation of residents "
in immediate danger
".
Several roads have been closed to traffic, according to the police who called on citizens to be extremely vigilant.
By the summer of 2019, Israel had recorded a record heat in more than 70 years.
Hundreds of fires of varying intensity had broken out and several localities had to be evacuated.
In 2016, a series of exceptional fires also caused massive damage in the country and in the occupied West Bank.
More than 13,000 wooded hectares were then gone up in smoke, according to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
