Arab Youths Arrested for Setting Fire During Heat Wave

Two Arab youths were arrested Monday evening when they were caught trying to set a fire. The two, aged 13 and 16, were detained by police after they tried to set a fire between Issawiya and the Ofarit military camp outside Yerushalayim.

Dozens of fires raged on Monday, the second day of a major heat wave that saw another record demand in electricity usage. Firefighters were able to bring all the blazes under control, baruch Hashem, although several – especially near the Givat Shaul neighborhood in Yerushalayim – had spread to the point where officials were prepared to evacuate residents from their homes. Police have begun investigating whether that fire, as well as others, were set deliberately.

Also Monday, police arrested an individual who was accused of setting a fire at the cemetery on Har Hazeisim. The man had set fire to flowers that had been left on the kever of an IDF soldier. His remand has been extended for three days.

Temperatures were much more moderate Tuesday, with the heat wave breaking. Temperatures should dip to slightly below normal toward the end of the week before heating up to normal seasonal levels for Shabbos – before a cold front moves in next week that could even bring showers, forecasters said.