Efforts to extinguish the massive wildfires in the forests west of Jerusalem continued Thursday, with the blaze still not fully under control. However, authorities report signs of improvement. By Thursday morning, traffic routes that were closed Wednesday due to the fires had reopened, and no roads remained blocked. On Wednesday, Highway 1 was shut in both directions between the Ben Shemen and Shoresh interchanges due to the escalating fire threat.
Several communities in the Jerusalem area, including Neve Ilan, Latrun, and Shoresh, were evacuated as a precaution. Meanwhile, additional fires are burning in southern and northern parts of the country. Police are working to remove vehicles left along Highway 1 by motorists who were evacuated from the affected sections of the road.
CANADA PARK VIDEO POINTS TO ARSON
Documentation from Ayalon Canada Park in Judea indicates that at least some of the fires raging in the Jerusalem Hills were deliberately set. The footage features an ambulance driver pointing to olive trees burning from the base, with no surrounding vegetation affected—evidence he says proves intentional arson.
חברה עכשיו שלחה לי בווצאפ, אח שלה הדובר בסרטון, צולם היום בשעות הצהריים, פארק קנדה, לטרון. ממש עץ כן עץ לא עץ למה לא. מרתק. אקלים משונה pic.twitter.com/nDyterCMpS
— אוריה שילת | Oriya Shilat (@OriyaShilat) April 30, 2025
“We are in Canada Park. Come see how sure we are that this is arson—there’s nothing burning around the olive trees. Look, from the trunk up everything is clean. They lit them. It hurts. Do you see the trees? Up there everything is green,” he said.
As fires continued to spread across the country, Canada Park was evacuated.
MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to impose a curfew on Arab villages in Judea and Samaria, citing alleged online incitement urging Arabs to “set fire to the occupation’s forests and settlements.”
Sukkot warned of a “real concern, based on past experience,” that Palestinians may exploit ongoing wildfire emergencies to ignite additional blazes across Judea, Samaria, and other parts of the country.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared that “the arsonists should be treated as arch-terrorists who attempted to murder thousands of civilians,” and demanded they face the full force of the law.
METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE WARNED OF EXTREME FIRE RISK
Since late last week, the Meteorological Service has issued warnings about elevated fire danger expected on Wednesday. Using a “fire index” that factors in wind, humidity, temperature, and vegetation dryness, both the Meteorological Service and the Fire Department flagged the day as high-risk. A map submitted to the Fire and Rescue Commission on Tuesday highlighted vast areas across the mountains and lowlands in purple—indicating an extreme fire danger classification.
There has been a sharp rise in wildfires in open areas across Mediterranean climates worldwide. In recent years, massive fires have scorched Greece, Turkey, Spain, Morocco, California, and Australia. This growing threat stems from a dangerous weather pattern: rainy winters lead to abundant vegetation, which then dries out during prolonged droughts and heat waves, creating vast areas of flammable fuel. Events like Wednesday’s strong, dry winds further intensify the danger, rapidly accelerating the fire spread.
The most alarming phenomenon for firefighters is known as “spotting,” where fires leap forward unexpectedly due to flying embers or fire whirlwinds, igniting new blazes far from the original flames.
After the Carmel fire in 2010, the State Comptroller determined that 1,400 more firefighters were needed to protect Israeli citizens and their property. The years 2023 and 2024 rank as the hottest ever recorded, and 2025 is already projected to join the top five. According to all scientific models and climate experts, global temperatures will continue to rise—bringing with them an increased frequency and intensity of large wildfires in Israel. Experts warn that without significant mitigation efforts, these extreme fire events are expected to become a persistent and escalating threat in the years ahead.
