Fires raged in fields, homes and forests across northern Israel tonight after an escalation with Hezbollah saw dozens of rockets cross into Israeli territory from Lebanon.
The fires, which started on Sunday night, raged into Monday, after firefighters struggled to control fires in the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve, in the centre of the Golan Heights and areas across the Northern District.
Communities close to Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon were affected with fires raging on the hills surrounding the city of Qiryat Shemona in the Upper Galilee.
Israeli officials estimated that the local flora could take years to recover, with over 2,500 acres of land being affected by the fast-moving fires.
Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at towns across the north of Israel. Katzrin, one of the largest communities in the Golan Heights, was surrounded by fires after a barrage of 15 rockets was fired at the town and landed in open areas.
The majority of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system, including more than a dozen fired at Qiryat Shemona and the evacuated town of Margialot.
According to the Times of Israel, several pistachio trees more than 400 years old in the Mordot Harei Naftali preservation area were burned.
In a statement Sharon Levi, director of INPA’s Golan District, said “A fire of 10,000 dunams (2,471 acres) is a big fire,”
“Some things are restored within a year, and some are restored within several years, but in the end, the area will be restored,”
Since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in October last year, Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, and thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from their homes near the Lebanese border.