ENIN (Ma’an) — Palestinian and Israeli firefighters on Saturday controlled a huge blaze in a forest between the northern West Bank village of Anin and the city of Umm Al-Fahim on the Israeli side of the separation wall.

Palestinian crews worked on the fire near Anin while Israeli firefighters battled the blaze near Umm Al-Fahim.

Director of the Palestinian civil defense in Jenin Sami Hamdan told Ma’an that the Palestinians asked Israeli officials to open the gate in the separation wall so firefighters could move freely in the mountainous area.

As soon as the gate was opened, the fire was extinguished within minutes, Hamdan said, adding that the fire started on the Israeli side of the wall and spread to olive fields near Anin.

Fire chief Aysar Zakarna told a Ma’an correspondent that one vehicle and a team of four worked on the fire inside the West Bank while 10 vehicles and an aircraft controlled the blaze on the Israeli side.

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