ANKARA: Firefighters are trying to contain wildfires raging in three provinces of northwestern Turkiye, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said late on Thursday, adding that the outlook was positive.
Fourteen planes, 31 helicopters and 265 land vehicles were involved in the firefighting efforts, along with some 1,400 forestry personnel, Yumakli said.
The wildfires broke out in the Eceabat district of Canakkale province, the Goynuk district of Bolu province and Manisa province’s Gordes district.
It was not yet clear what caused the fires.
“In all three ongoing wildfires, there is a process that’s heading for the better. God willing, I hope to give you good news tomorrow (Friday) and share with you that all three of our fires are finished,” he said.
Footage from the three fires showed flames engulfing swathes of lands with black smoke billowing above forests and cities. No residential areas were at risk from the flames, local officials said.
Canakkale Governor Omer Toraman said certain neighborhoods in three villages had been evacuated as a precaution, but that there was no threat to residential areas.
Bolu Governor Erkan Kilic was cited by state media as saying that around 100 hectares of land had been damaged in the fire so far, and that three villages had been evacuated as a precaution.
The wildfire in Manisa, which started on Wednesday, is now in its third day.
Firefighters battle to contain three wildfires in western Turkiye
https://arab.news/j9pq9
Firefighters battle to contain three wildfires in western Turkiye
- Footage from the three fires showed flames engulfing swathes of lands with black smoke billowing above forests and cities.
Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office
- The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.
