Another fire started to spread near communities west of Jerusalem on Thursday for the second day in a row.
The rapid pace that the fire spread on Thursday forced evacuations from Tzur Hadasah and Beitar Illit, as well as various industrial plants and a gas station, a day after many fires were took hold of forested area in Judea and Samaria.
The road leading the two communities was also blocked, with 25 fire-fighting teams and 12 extinguishing air tankers trying to contain the flames.
The fires on Wednesday were suspected arson, as firefighters report finding no obvious natural cause of blaze. It is unclear what caused the fire on Thursday.
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While wildfires are common in Israel during the summer months, and human error or negligence could have caused the fires, foul play is being examined as a line of inquiry.
The fires in the vicinity of Jerusalem on Wednesday closed the main rail and road links between the city and Tel Aviv and cast a pall of smoke across the region – eliciting health warnings for those with breathing difficulties to remain indoors.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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