Israel evacuates thousands as fire spreads in northern city

In a rare move, Israel called up hundreds of military reservists to join overstretched police and firefighters and was making use of an international fleet of firefighting aircraft sent by a slew of countries.

Netanyahu did not elaborate on the identity or motives of the suspected arsonists, but Israeli officials typically use the term “terror” to refer to Arab or Palestinian militant activity.

Netanyahu’s accusations could test already brittle relations between Israel’s Jewish majority and its Arab minority, which has long suffered discrimination in Israel and says it has been slighted by rhetoric from Netanyahu and other Israeli officials in the past.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told Channel 10 TV news that eight people had been arrested and that authorities had found “flammable materials and liquids poured in certain areas,” a find that pointed to arson.

The Palestinians meanwhile offered to send firefighting teams to help combat the flames, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.