Bushfires sparked by rockets from Lebanon flare in northern Israel

Israeli authorities were on alert Tuesday for new bushfires, after munitions fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah the previous evening ignited several in northern Israel.

Israel's Fire and Rescue Service said dozens of firefighting teams worked through the night, alongside teams from the Nature and Parks Service, army, police and other agencies, before controlling the largest fires in the morning, reported an AFP journalist.

“There are currently three active sites” near the border with Lebanon, firefighters said on Tuesday.

The fires have encroached on Kiryat Shmona, a town near the Lebanese border that has been largely evacuated in the face of near-daily exchanges of fire between the army and Hezbollah since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 sparked the war in Gaza.

The extreme heat that has gripped the region in recent days has increased the risk of bushfires. Daily rocket and drone fire rains down incendiary materials.

An AFP photographer in this northern city saw intense fires ravaging parts of the border area.

A bushfire in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Sunday burned about 10 square kilometers (nearly four square miles) of land after a rocket fired from Lebanon struck near the town of Katzrin.

The Lebanese National News Agency also reported fires in Alma al-Shaab and Dhayra, two villages near the Israeli border. He said the fires were caused by “Israeli phosphorous incendiary shells.”

The Israeli army said it had deployed reinforcements to support firefighters overwhelmed by the scale of the fires.

“Six… reservist soldiers suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation and were transferred to a hospital for medical treatment,” the army said.

“The forces have taken control of the scene of the shooting and, at this stage, no human life is in danger,” the statement added.

Officers from the army's Northern Command had arrived in Kiryat Shmona overnight and the army was “conducting an assessment of the situation” in the area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it was closely monitoring the fires.

In retaliation, the Israeli army announced it had carried out airstrikes against what it considers to be Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

ANI reported that Israeli incendiary shells sparked a forest fire on Tuesday that approached houses in the southern village of Alma al-Shaab.

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