Israel facing ‘national emergency’ as it battles worst fires in a decade, says Netanyahu

Firefighters have rushed to control wildfires that have injured several people and prompted the military to deploy troops to help

Wildfires continued to threaten swaths of forest and fields in Israel on Thursday, though firefighters successfully reopened the main road linking the country's two principal cities.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, declared a national emergency after the fires broke out on Wednesday along the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, prompting police to shut the route and evacuate thousands of residents from nearby communities.