Three dead as hundreds of wildfires ravage the Middle East

Hundreds of massive wildfires ravaged parts of the Middle East over the weekend, forcing thousands to flee their homes.

In Syria, the hardest-hit country, three people were killed according to the health ministry.

On Friday, the first day of the renewed fires, the health ministry said that 70 people in Latakia province alone had been taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties.

The fires continued to spread across the west coast of the country over the weekend, but were brought under control on Sunday according to state media.

Mohammed Hassan Qatana, Syria’s health minister, told a local radio station on Friday that the fires were the worst in Syria’s history.

In neighbouring crisis-hit Lebanon, firefighters were tackling blazes in the north, centre and south of the country, backed up by military helicopters.

According to the state news agency, fires in villages in the south of the country triggered the explosions of land mines along the border with Israel.

In Israel’s north, more than 5,000 residents were evacuated from their homes in the city of Nof Hagalil as the fires spread across Israel and the occupied West Bank.

The cause of the hundreds of fires remains unknown but the spread will have been facilitated by high temperatures and winds.

Syria, Lebanon and Israel are each facing severe economic crises that hinder their ability to tackle the raging forest fires.

In 2019 Lebanon faced its worst bushfire season in decades with more than 1200 hectares of forest destroyed in just three days. The volunteer-led civil defence teams that fight the fires are under-equipped and under-resourced.

As more than 100 fires ravaged the country last year three of the firefighting Sikorsky S-70 helicopters were unable to be used as the government had not maintained them. Just days later the mass anti-government protest movement broke out that rocked the country for months and saw Prime Minister Saad Hariri step down.

This June, as temperatures began to creep up in time for wildfire season, the government approved a request from the defence ministry to sell the helicopters. By October, more than 100 wildfires were spreading again.