Israel : Carmel fire costs 454 million dollars

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- The material losses as a result of the huge forest fire that ravaged Carmel Mountain near Haifa might reach 454 million dollars, Israel media sources reported on Sunday.

Hebrew daily Ma'ariv said that the aforementioned sum does not include all direct and indirect damage as a result of the giant blaze, which exposed the Home Front's inability to cope with such a big fire that has been raging for the past four days in Haifa, north of Palestine occupied in 1948.

The Jewish National Fund reported that the fire had destroyed 12,000 acres of forest, around five million trees, just under half of the entire Carmel forest reserve. JNF officials said it would take decades to rehabilitate the area.

The enormous wildfire ignited an internal crisis in the Israeli coalition government as a number of ministers traded accusations over its responsibility with fingers pointing at the ministers of interior and finance.

In a related context, the Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said that the fire that burnt parts of the Qassam grave east of Haifa city was the result of an arson attack, holding fanatic Jews responsible for the attack that burnt 20 graves and a number of trees.