HAIFA: Israel does not need any more firefighting planes to tackle the deadly forest fire raging in the north of the country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday.
Netanyahu was following the advice of professional firefighters that “the fleet of aircraft currently deployed in Israel is sufficient for the task,” his spokesman Mark Regev told AFP. As a result, Israel was cancelling its requests for more aircraft, although it “greatly appreciates the readiness of the countries contacted to provide help.”
The world’s biggest firefighting plane — a chartered Boeing Supertanker — joined the international offensive against the fire in northern Israel on Sunday, dumping tons of water and chemicals on the flames. Around 30 airplanes and helicopters were battling the inferno which broke out on Thursday. The blaze, centred on the Carmel hills, south and east of the northern port city of Haifa, is the biggest in Israel’s 62-year history. It has taken 41 lives and forced more than 17,000 people to flee their homes.
