Israel fires: Tel Aviv accepts Palestinian Authority aid offer

Israeli and Palestinian firefighters attempt to extinguish fires raging in the hills near Jerusalem on August 17, 2021. AP - Ariel Schalit

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

It is an unusual collaboration, but not exceptional.

As flames have raged since Sunday in the hills and towns west of Jerusalem, in the part of the city annexed by Israel since 1967, the Palestinian Authority has offered to help.

This was accepted by the Israelis.

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With our correspondent in Ramallah,

Alice Froussard

“ 

I would like to thank the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, for the initiative to send firefighters who came to help Israel today,

 ” tweeted

Benny Gantz

, the Israeli Minister of Defense.

Since Tuesday, August 17, four firefighting trucks and 20 Palestinian firefighters and rescuers have been sent as reinforcements.

They arrived at noon in Beit Shemesh, where the fire was in progress.

I would like to thank PA Chairman Abbas for his his initiative to send the firefighters who came to assist Israel today.

Mutual care and saving human lives are common interests to us all.

- בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) August 17, 2021

They were quickly briefed, then left with the Israeli teams on the ground, to try to put out the fire, as there are still flames in other hills surrounding Jerusalem, for the third day in a row. But there are mostly strong winds that threaten to rekindle the fires because of the heat wave and the dry climate. If the Palestinians deplore not having " 

planes to put out fires

 ", they stress that this collaboration is necessary and of common interest. 

This is not the first time that Palestinian firefighters have joined forces with Israeli firefighters.

But it is a rather rare collaboration.

Ramallah had already sent troops on three occasions, notably during the

great fire of 2010 on Mount Carmel

, in northern Israel, and in 2016, during destructive fires around Jerusalem and near Haifa, again in the north of Israel. country.

However, in 2016, the collaboration ended on a bad note.

When the Israeli Foreign Ministry thanked the international efforts of the nations that sent forces to fight the fires, the Palestinians were last thanked, without using their flag as a symbol, when it had been done for all other countries. .

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