Fires tear through thousands of acres across country

Many of the blazes apparently caused by negligent hikers, army training

Fires destroyed at least 2,400 acres of land in the country’s south over the past 10 days, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said Wednesday, adding that most of the blazes were apparently caused either by arson or negligence on the part of hikers or IDF soldiers.

In the country’s north, near the Galilean town of Biriya, about 10 hectares of natural forest were consumed in a wildfire, most probably caused by a barbecue that had been left unattended, the authority added.

On Tuesday, fires broke out in several other locations across the country, including the Western Galilee, the Jezreel Valley, and along the banks of the Jordan River.

Over the seven-day Passover holiday, the Parks Authority reported that tens of thousands of hikers visited the sites of Ein Gedi, Caesarea National Park, the Tzukim Nature Reserve, the Eshkol National Park and the Gan Hashlosha National Park. Tens of thousands of Israelis also took to beaches of the Sea of Galilee, filling them to capacity and forcing local authorities to deny entrance to late arrivals.

The Jewish National Fund, which administers many of the country’s forests, warned vacation-goers to be cautious of where they light fires and passed out plastic bags for cleaning up campgrounds.