TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A sandstorm swept across Israel on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, further complicating efforts to control ongoing wildfires in the country’s central region. Strong winds reduced visibility and intensified the blazes.
Multiple media outlets aired footage showing a powerful sandstorm engulfing Beersheba, a city in Israel’s southern Negev Desert. The video captures the city slowly being swallowed by a massive dust cloud. Anadolu showed Channel 12's broadcast of scenes of soldiers struggling to close the gates of a military base as the storm bore down.
"This is what Shivta Base (in the Negev) looks like tonight in the middle of an unusual sandstorm," the Israeli news channel reported. Soldiers had difficulty securing doors due to the forceful winds.
Meanwhile, firefighters continued battling wildfires that have been spreading through towns between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The high winds have made their efforts even more difficult.
Israel has requested international assistance to fight the fires. Sky News reported that several countries—including Spain, Italy, France, Croatia, Ukraine, and Romania—have sent firefighting aircraft. Ten firefighting planes dropped fire retardants on Thursday. Authorities said eight more aircraft were expected to arrive.
Shmulik Friedman, commander of the Jerusalem District Fire and Rescue Service, told Israeli Army Radio that the wildfires could be the largest in the nation’s history.
Defense Minister Yoav Katz declared a national emergency earlier in the day and ordered the military to assist firefighting operations in the Jerusalem Hills region.
Channel 12 also reported that all Independence Day celebrations had been canceled due to the massive wildfires. Independence Day, which marks the founding of Israel in 1948, coincides with Nakba Day for Palestinians—a day of mourning commemorating the mass displacement and civilian massacres carried out by Zionist forces during that period.
Israeli emergency services evacuated residents from several central cities last week as wildfires spread rapidly. Fueled by high temperatures and strong winds, the fires scorched 2,500 hectares of land and injured nine people.
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