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Massive international aid sent to Israel to fight blazes

Israel’s neighbors and allies sent aid to help it combat the huge fires it has been contending with.

Several countries from Europe and the Middle East sent aid to help Israel combat the spate of blazes it has been contending with in the past week, mostly in the form of firefighting planes.

A number of Israel’s Arab and Muslim allies have sent firefighter teams to help put out the raging fires across the Jewish state in a show of regional cooperation and solidarity.

Egypt sent two helicopters, while Jordan dispatched a number of fire trucks to battle the blazes.

Azerbaijan, a Muslim-majority nation and one of Israel’s closest allies in central Asia, sent a BE-200CS amphibious aircraft to Israel. Turkey sent firefighting aircraft on Thursday.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) also contributed by sending several firefighting teams from Jenin to battle blazes in northern Israel, mostly in Haifa.

Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Romania, Russia, Spain and Ukraine sent equipment, firefighting teams and aircraft to assist in the efforts to extinguish the blazes.

A total of 22 airplanes and two helicopters flew across Israel’s skies over the weekend, dumping water and firefighting materials where needed.

The Global Super Tanker, the world’s largest firefighting plane also arrived in Israel from the US over the weekend and immediately began flying sorties over the Jerusalem hills.

A group of American firefighters are also reportedly on their way to Israel.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the “many countries” who sent aid to Israel in its time of need.

By: JNS.org and World Israel News Staff