Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israeli authorities are yet to determine the cause of devastating fires that swept across large parts of the country near Jerusalem on Wednesday, but speculation has been spreading online with some blaming Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that 18 “neighbours” had been arrested on suspicion of starting the fires, even though official police channels have only confirmed three arrests. There was no mention of a specific figure in the official statement from the International Bible Quiz, where Mr Netanyahu made the remark, when it was released in English some hours later.
“Our neighbours, who proclaim their love for this land, are prepared, in their propaganda, in their incitement on Palestinian networks, they’re saying – burn the land. We do love this land and we protect this land,” it read.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the blazes were “part of the climate crisis, which must not be ignored”.
After the first arrest, of an East Jerusalem resident, police released images of a lighter and cotton wool, described as a flammable material, which the man was carrying. The Israeli press later reported that the man was also carrying a pipe and tobacco.
By that stage, suspicion of Palestinians had spread quickly online, highlighting rising tensions in the region, particularly since the start of the Gaza War. Many Palestinians say the war has been a dehumanising period in which they have been vilified by an increasingly right-wing Israeli society.
Soon after the blazes were reported on Wednesday, posts sprung up on X claiming Palestinian Telegram and X channels had circulated calls for Palestinians to light fires in the occupied West Bank to target Israeli settlements. One poster circulated by Hamas said the fires represented that “the earth rejects the footsteps of strangers”.
As the fire continued on Thursday, with flames still out of control, pro-Israel activist Hillel Fuld, who has more than 170,000 followers on X, wrote “Israel has arrested no less than 18 terrorists who were allegedly involved in yesterday’s fires”, citing the Prime Minister’s contested numbers.
In parallel, Israeli journalists took to X to cast doubt about the claims that the fires were the result of arson by Palestinians.
Nir Hasson, a reporter for Israeli outlet Haaretz, highlighted in a post that the Middle East was experiencing a historic heatwave.
“April temperature records were broken yesterday in almost every country in the Middle East and Central Asia. We're expecting more next week,” he said. “But Arabs [did it] and that's it.”
In a later post addressing the arrest of the East Jerusalem resident carrying a lighter and cotton wool, Mr Hasson said: “Do you know what else the man they arrested yesterday had on him besides cotton wool and a lighter? A pipe and tobacco.
“The police probably just accidentally forgot to take a picture of them. The detainee is 63 years old, with no criminal record. According to his attorney, he was arrested in an area closer to Umm Tuba than to a Jewish neighbourhood.”
The government was also criticised by former senior officials for not being prepared to manage the fires. Tomer Lotan, a former director general in what is now the National Security Ministry, accused its current minister, far-right coalition member Itamar Ben-Gvir, of not heeding recommendations made in 2022 to increase readiness for wildfires.
