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Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has launched a rocket and drone strikes on northern part of the Israeli-occupied territories, sparking intense fires outbreak.
Israeli authorities dispatched firefighting teams to the area to contain the flames, which spread on Monday due to hot and dry weather.
The Israeli military said it had deployed reinforcements to help firefighters extinguish the blazes.
It added that six reservist soldiers were injured as a result of smoke inhalation and taken to a hospital.
Meanwhile, Israeli media outlets reported that settlers in Kiryat Shmona were evacuated after the blazes engulfed the city.
Kiryat Shmona previously had a population of 24,000 settlers, but it was reduced to 4,000 following a surprise operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group eight months ago.
In a statement, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the premier held an assessment with security officials about the developments in northern area of the occupied lands and was updated about the firefighting efforts.
Naftali Bennett, a right-wing Israeli politician and former prime minister, criticized the Netanyahu cabinet’s handling of the fires.
“Places that were flourishing and beautiful have become cities of ruins,” he said in an X post, describing Hezbollah’s attacks as “heavy”.
