Record-Breaking Heat Wave Scorches Israel
Image by Getty Images
A record-breaking heat wave in Israel has sparked forest fires, caused flight delays and prompted a sharp increase in reported cases of dehydration and fainting.
Temperatures reached 102 degrees in Tel Aviv, 104 in Haifa and 98 in Jerusalem on Wednesday. A forest fire broke out near the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh, requiring the involvement of at least 20 firefighting teams and four aircraft, according to Ynet.
A blaze in the central Israeli town of Tel Mond destroyed homes, and a conflagration near the village of Mabuim in southern Israel forced some residents to evacuate.
The heat wave is expected to break on Thursday, with seasonal averages returning and a further cool-down over the weekend. The forecast high for Tel Aviv on Saturday is 76 degrees.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
