Bomb shelter blazes trigger arson fears

Three separate fires started in three bomb shelters in central Israel on Friday, raising suspicions of arson, Channel 10 reported.

There were no injuries reported in any of the fires, all of which were started in the shelters of residential buildings. All three were brought under control by fire fighters, the NRG website said.

Police believe that there is a connection between the blazes, and that they were started deliberately. Two of the fires occurred on the same street, and the third nearby.

Arson was also suspected Friday in three fires that broke out in the West Bank, as settlers and Palestinians clashed near the settlement of Yitzhar, south of Nablus. Fires started at the Hawara junction, the Yitzhar junction and near the road leading to Yitzhar itself.

Israel is frequently plagued by brush fires in the summer months, as temperatures soar. In July,1,500-2,000 dunams of natural woodland, forest, vegetation and uncultivated land in the Beit Shemesh area were destroyed in a brush fire, and experts said it would take nature 20 years to recover.