JERUSALEM, Israel – Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, has joined the probe into the cause of wildfires near Jerusalem on Wednesday that forced the widespread cancellation of Memorial Day and Independence Day events on the nation’s 77th birthday.
Warm temperatures and fierce winds fanned the flames, leading to the closure of Highway 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Authorities closed many other roads, and people were evacuated from their homes.
The winds had largely died down by Thursday morning, and all roads had reopened, but evacuated residents were not yet allowed to return to their homes.
Shin Bet’s investigation of the fires signaled that Israeli officials strongly suspect arson caused the fires.
JNS News reports that a Knesset member, Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionist Party, sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking for a curfew on Arab villages and cities.
He wrote, “As the fires spread, calls are being published on Arab networks to ‘set fire to the occupied forests and settlements,’ and there is a real concern, based on past experience, that Palestinians will attempt to set additional fires in Judea and Samaria and throughout the country.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir repeated his call for instituting the death penalty for terrorists.
Arsonists “should be treated as arch-terrorists for all intents and purposes, who tried to murder thousands of civilians, and accordingly, they should be brought to justice in the full severity of the law,” Ben-Gvir urged.
JNS cited an online banner spotted by an Israeli open-source intelligence activist from Samaria, which read, “Set fire to the earth beneath the settlers’ feet.” It portrayed a keffiyeh-wearing man setting fire to a field near burning homes.
CBN News’ Raj Nair spoke Wednesday with Israeli tour guide Ron Lahad, who gave an eyewitness account of the fires. The report includes video of a man lighting a fire in a field.
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