(Israel Hayom) Itsik Saban - Israel's Fire and Rescue Commissioner David Simchi announced Sunday the formation of a special task force to combat Palestinian arson terrorism against Israeli communities adjacent to Gaza. The task force will include firefighters from the IDF Homefront Command. Palestinian kite terrorism has so far sparked 860 fires since April, decimating over 8,000 acres of forest and agricultural land in Israel. Hamas operatives have been trying to upgrade the kites to fly deeper into Israeli territory. There has been a decrease in the overall number of major blazes, due to the firefighters' improved readiness, as well as the fact that, given the devastation, new fires have fewer areas into which they can spread. Firefighting teams will have all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles at their disposal equipped with special gear to carry water and flame retarding agents. They are meant to be used as a first response ahead of the fire trucks' arrival at the scene.
2018-07-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive