Dramatic photos continue to emerge of the wildfires tearing through Israel.
Reuters reported that tens of thousands of residents were ordered to flee Israel's third largest city Haifa on Thursday. The blazes were also approaching Jerusalem on Friday, according to AFP.
Israeli police said they had arrested 12 people on suspicion of arson, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said if arson is to blame, the perpetrators will be punished.
"Every fire that was caused by arson, or incitement to arson, is terrorism by all accounts. And we will treat it as such,"he told press in Haifa."Whoever tries to burn parts of Israel will be punished for it severely."
Press Association and Reuters have published a sequence of images of the blazes and their aftermath in Haifa. Scroll on to see the scale of the emergency.
Wildfires broke out near Jerusalem and in the of north Israel earlier this week. They wreaked havoc in the town of Zikhron Ya'akov.
Around ten homes were burned and about 15 people sustained light injuries, according to Press Association. Here, Relly Golan looks at her destroyed house.
Windy and hot weather helped fan the flames. They reached Haifa on Thursday, where locals have been told to evacuate.
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