July 9, 2012
Palestinian teens arrested for Jerusalem arson, shots fired inside Gaza Strip restaurant
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A fire fighting aircraft drops flame retardant over a forest fire on the outskirts of Jerusalem on June 26. Photo by REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Two Palestinian teens were arrested for setting a fire near Jerusalem that destroyed 15 acres of forest.
The teens were arrested Monday and reportedly admitting to intentionally setting the June 26 fire, as well as to setting other fires and being involved in rock-throwing incidents, Ynet reported.
Some 35 firefighting teams from across the country and six firefighting planes battled the blaze, which was ignited near Kibbutz Ma’aleh Hahamisha, as well as another near the entrance to the city.
The Jerusalem area reportedly has suffered hundreds of fires in recent weeks, and many are believed to be the result of arson.
Meanwhile, shots fired from inside the Gaza Strip damaged a restaurant at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. The Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Monday evening, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces. A car also was hit by the machine-gun fire, Ynet reported.
The IDF and police patrolled the area before lowering the alert levels.
