Twenty-one firefighting planes aided Israel in fighting the fires that swept thecountry. Saturday, planes from Turkey were documented drew water off the coast of Netanya, and other country's similar efforts were also recorded over Haifa and the Jerusalem Mountains, including the American Supertanker, the largest aerial ישfirefighting craft in the work, which helped extinguish the blaze in Nataf .
Supertanker fights fire in Jerusalem Mountains
(צילום: עפר מאיר, אריאל רבל)
The first planes that reached Israel from abroad were three from the Hellenic Republic. Greek Maj. Stelios Kokoridis, a pilot who had previously fought fires in Israel during the 2010 Carmel conflagration, said, "We're dumping water from a height of 30 meters, and at this height, we see the people and understand that we're really saving their lives. And there's no better feeling than that. We fought fires in Israel with the same determinedness with which we fight fires in Greece. I feel like I'm fighting a fire in my home, as if I'm now in Greece. It's always good to help a friend in trouble; it's a shame that we meet each other in bad times like this."
Greek firefighting plane
Greek plane
Immediately after the Greek came three planes from Turkey, two from Italy and one from Cyprus. Russia sent two Beriev Be-200 planes capable of carrying 12 tons of water that began operations Friday morning and took part in extinguishing the blazes around Natal and Nahf. Friday, a C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft belonging to the Cypriot Air Force brought some 70 Cypriot firefighters to aid Israeli efforts. They landed on Saturday morning and were dispersed to various burning locations. 📷Russian plane
Two planes from Croatia and also planes from Azerbaijan and Ukraine worked in the area of fires in Neve Ilan and Nataf. Egypt sent two firefighting helicopters.
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Aiding Israel (Photos: AFP, Motti Kimchi, Nature and Parks Authority)
(צילום: AFP, מוטי קמחי, רשות הטבע והגנים)
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Egyptian firefighting helicopter over Tel Aviv en route to a fire (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
(צילום: מוטי קמחי)
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spain also sent planes, and Belarus, Britain, Bulgaria, Czechia, Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland all offered their assistance.
The American Supertanker ,a Boeing 747-400, came from Colorado Springs in the US. It took off from Ben Gurion Airport shortly after 3pm and remained in the air for about two hours. It took off towards the north, circled over the sea for about 40 minutes—during which time the Israel Police and firefighting services argued over employing it—then flew south and turned towards Jerusalem. It dumped flame retardant in the Nataf forest before returning to Ben Gurion. The Supertanker being the only aircraft capable of fighting fire at night, the other air crews return to Tel Aviv hotels overnight.
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Ukrainian airplane in Nahf area (Photo: Firefighting and Rescue Services)
(צילום: דוברות כבאות אש והצלה מחוז צפון)
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Palestinian firefighters after helping to extinguish Nahf fire (Photo: AFP)
(צילום: AFP)
Saturday evening, three planes and a firefighting team arrived from France.
Some of the foreign firefighting aircraft are capable of filling their tanks with seawater directly from the Mediterranean. The Israeli planes, contrarily, are only able to take off and land on runways, as they were original agricultural spraying aircraft.
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Palestinian firefighters who aided in Sha'ar HaGai (Photo: Omri Efraim)
(צילום: עומרי אפרים)
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Cypriot firefighters and their military transport (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
(צילום: דובר צה"ל)
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Cypriot firefighters en route to Israel (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
(צילום: דובר צה"ל)
The Palestinian Authority sent eight firefighting teams that helped in the north and Jerusalem Mountains. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Friday night to thank him for sending the personnel and fire trucks.