The U.S. and Russia are both working to help Israel cope with a wildfire that has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
The fires have been going on for three days now, and some believe their origin may have been politically motivated arson. However, drought and high winds have caused them to spread, according to a report in Haaretz.
That paper said Russia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Croatia and Cyprus would send 10 planes to help Israel fight the fires, which have destroyed homes around the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Russia on Twitter early Thursday morning for the aid, after he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
PM Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin who acceded to the PM’s request for assistance in extinguishing the fires.
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 24, 2016
President Putin said that Russia would immediately send two giant Beriev be-200 firefighting aircraft.
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 24, 2016
Haaretz said Netanyahu has also asked for a Boeing “supertanker” to help, which is a Boeing 747 modified so it can release water or other fire suppressing agents in flight.
“A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed Netanyahu’s request and said that an agreement had been reached that would see the supertanker arrive in Israel within 28 hours,” Haaretz wrote.
The State Department had not confirmed the plane was heading to Israel as of Thursday afternoon.
In the meantime, reports Thursday morning said 60,000 people were evacuated from Haifa, the country’s third-largest city.
Netanyahu implied the fires were arson, and said, “every fire that was the result of arson or incitement to arson is terror in every way and we’ll treat it as such.”
