JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent three firefighting aircraft and a cargo plane to Cyprus over the weekend to help extinguish a massive fire near the southwestern city of Paphos. It is reportedly one of the biggest fires the country has ever experienced, with strong winds making it difficult to battle.
In addition to the close regional alliance between Israel and Cyprus, the two countries also have an official agreement to provide emergency assistance to one another.
"Several years ago, during the massive Carmel fire, I contacted the president of Cyprus, he was the first I turned to, and the prime minister of Greece, that they should send firefighting aircraft," Netanyahu told cabinet ministers Sunday morning. "They had one such aircraft. They took it out of its hangar and sent it here.
"Last night, I ordered that three of our firefighting aircraft, out of our fleet of 13 or 14, be sent to help them, and the planes are now in Cyprus. This is part of the regional arrangement we have made with Cyprus and Greece about emergency assistance. I am pleased that we are able to extend this assistance.
Israel may send additional assistance.
"Efforts are currently underway to organize the dispatch of a rescue team as well as additional firefighting aircraft," Netanyahu said in a statement.
When Israeli firefighters battled a huge forest fire on Mt. Carmel in December 2010, Cyprus was one of the first countries, along with Greece, France and Russia, to dispatch firefighting aircraft to help extinguish the massive blaze.
The fire killed 44 people, destroyed 8,000 acres of forest and the community of Beit Oren in its entirety.
Meanwhile Israelis are in the throes of a countrywide heat wave this week, with temperatures soaring into the 100s in the Golan Heights, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea and Eilat.
Jerusalem is just under the 100 degree mark Monday at 98 and Tel Aviv plenty hot enough at 93. Meteorologists say the unseasonably hot weather will continue through the week.
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