For the second day in a row, a Hezbollah rocket and drone attack launched from Lebanon caused a massive blaze in northern Israel, this time Monday afternoon in the Ramim Ridge near Kiryat Shmona. The North Road 9977 was closed off by police due to the huge wildfires and residents in the city were ordered to evacuate as the flames drew near.
Dramatic scenes in Israel’s north as Hezbollah just launched a kamikaze drone from Lebanon into the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona.
Residential areas are on fire across the North of Israel, with huge fires erupting from bombs attached to the drones or falling debris.
Children… pic.twitter.com/TzzKJLBObY
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The fire was spreading towards the Bimat Tel Hai neighborhood in the north of the city at around 8 pm. Several yards and pergolas caught fire, and flames also reached the roof of a house. The city had no cell phone, internet and communication reception in some localities.
Eleven firefighting teams battled the blaze for hours near the city. Remaining residents in Kiryat Shmona, a city already decimated by Hezbollah attacks, were evacuated as the fire drew closer.
The fire in Kiryat Shmona – it appears that it’s reached a house. pic.twitter.com/A9uw0befNG
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The fire was touched off by an explosion from a suicide drone launched by the Iranian proxy group at around 1:45 pm.
A large blaze is spreading in the Ramim Ridge area, near Kiryat Shmona, reportedly as a result of rocket impacts in the area over the past day.
The Fire and Rescue Services says nine firefighting teams are working in the area, and the blaze is not yet under control.
Meanwhile,… pic.twitter.com/atmofed4no
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Fire and Rescue Services personnel said at 8 pm the fire was not yet under control.
Flames also erupted elsewhere along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon due to Hezbollah explosive suicide drone and rocket attacks.
Firefighters managed to gain full control of the fire in the Margaliot area. Five fire brigades were working to control another fire in Keren Naftali as well.
Meanwhile, firefighters are still working to gain control over flames burning since Sunday after Hezbollah attacks in the area around the Golan Heights town of Katzrin, the largest city in the region.
By Sunday afternoon, nearly 2,500 acres of land across northern Israel had been burned in the Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon, according to Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority.
Sharon Levy, director of the Authority’s Golan Heights region told Ynet that the fire has already significantly damaged the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve and also the Zavitan Stream.
“This is significant damage, not a small fire,” Levy said. “A fire of 10,000 acres is a big fire. Nature has the ability to recover, but the larger the fire, the slower the recovery. It takes years, with trees and animals affected. Some things recover within a year, and some within several years but the area will recover eventually.”
