Arson suspected in fire at B’Tselem headquarters; one lightly injured

A major fire broke out late Sunday in a Jerusalem office building that houses the left-wing rights group B’Tselem.

The blaze was first reported shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday in the building in Jerusalem’s southern Talpiot neighborhood.

One person was evacuated with light injuries from smoke inhalation. He was not a B’Tselem employee. The fire was extinguished shortly before 11:30 p.m.

At least five firefighting teams battled the blaze, with officials saying no one was trapped in the building’s upper floors, as was initially feared.

Firefighters confirmed that the fire began on the same floor as the B’Tselem offices, according to Maariv. Fire investigators and police were examining the possibility of arson targeting the controversial group. An unconfirmed report said the fire may have been started in multiple places in the building, suggesting arson.

It spread through the first, second, third and fourth floors, Army Radio reported at midnight, before it was brought under control.

B’Tselem said its offices had been damaged, but that it would not be deterred from its work. “Needless to say, the damage to our offices will not prevent us from continuing with our work to expose and document the iniquities of the occupation.”

“We don’t know if it’s deliberate arson or not, but we’ve seen the police assessments of the situation,” a B’Tselem spokesperson said in a statement. “But if it turns out that it indeed was arson, it’s impossible to see it disconnected from the wave of attacks and mudslinging against human rights groups.”

The Jerusalem Police established a special team to investigate the blaze in order to determine if it was criminal in nature. Officers were at the scene gathering evidence.

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The building also houses a Jewish-Arab coexistence group, as well as other organizations.

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A late-night class was held in a synagogue on one of the building’s upper floors, but it ended several minutes before the fire broke out, Army Radio said. Participants had left the building before the blaze was reported.

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Founded in 1989, B’Tselem has been at the center of a political firestorm in recent days following a weekend television report suggesting that an activist affiliated with the group informed Palestinian security services about Palestinians who sold land to Jews, saying that the PA would torture and kill the sellers.