Just hours after security authorities launched an operation to battle forest fires expected this summer, the first incident of the season was reported.
In preparation for a repeat of the Palestinian arson that destroyed much of Israel’s natural and planted forests last summer, security forces joined together Sunday in initiating “Operation Foxtail.”
Police, border police, the IDF and the fire brigade in the North launched the operation after intelligence reports indicated new arson could be expected this summer.
Under the plan, the civil guard will patrol in potential fire areas, border police will lay ambushes in the forests and the air force will provide helicopter assistance in combatting the fires and in chasing the arsonists.
Operation Foxtail had its first test, just a few hours after it was born, when a forest on Mount Gilboa was set ablaze Sunday night. A fire engine stationed on the mountain as part of Operation Foxtail arrived at the scene less than 10 minutes after the fire started and managed to minimize the damage.
Police investigating the blaze have no doubt that it was arson, or “intifire,” as The Jerusalem Post dubbed fires linked to the Palestinian intifada.
The vast black patches along the slopes of Gilboa and other mountains of Galilee were among the distinct emblems of the Palestinian uprising last year. More than 400 arson cases were reported, all of them attributed to nationalistic motives. Damage was estimated at over 100 million shekels ($56 million).
“Last year, it took us over 50 forest fires to realize that we were dealing with a war,” a senior officer of the Galilee police force admitted Monday.
“Too late in the season, we started allocating the proper forces to combat it and the thousands of dunams in black were a shameful result of our unsuccessful efforts.” A dunam is an Israeli measurement equivalent to approximately a quarter acre.
This year, security authorities are not taking any chances.
“As the intifada continues in the territories, we have no doubt that Arabs from Judea and Samaria and their accomplices in Israel will try to set fires in the forests and fields,” the officer said.
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