Arab news and social media call on Palestinians to ‘burn settlers homes’ as fires rage in Israel

As wildfires continued to burn across Israel, messages on Arab social media called on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs to burn fields in revenge for Gaza. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Israel Police also announced the arrests of three suspects for arson and attempted arson in the Jerusalem area after receiving reports of the suspects attempting to ignite fires. 

The three were arrested after inciting posts were distributed on Arab social media calling for more fires to be ignited. 

One suspect in his 50s was reported to be a resident of the Um Tuba neighborhood in East Jerusalem. He was arrested after he was observed trying to ignore a fire in an open field south of Jerusalem. The suspect tried to flee from the police and was arrested after a chase. Upon searching him, a lighter, cotton, wool, and other combustible materials were found. He was transferred to a police station for interrogation. 

Some of the inciting posts showed images of the fires along with comments like, "Let the settlers be ashes under your feet," or calls to "burn forests near settlements" and "ignite rage and flames of revenge in their homes, homes and vehicles.” 

The Jenin News Network Telegram channel called on Palestinians to "burn the groves near the settlements" in a post earlier in the day, along with an illustration of a person wearing a keffiyeh setting fires to fields near a burning town. 

A Palestinian account posted on 𝕏: “A call to the revolutionary youth and all the heroes of the West Bank...Settlers' homes and the surrounding areas are your target. Burn them with your Molotov cocktails and set fire to the grass near the settlement outposts,” along with the hashtag “Burn settlers' houses.” 

A post from a Hebron resident appeared to claim that the fires were all incidents of nationalistic arson, saying, "This is definitely arson. We would like to raise the issue because as of this moment, terrorist squads are roaming around arson and burning unhindered throughout our country. No one was caught, as far as we know.” 

Multiple arrests have been made in connection to the horrible fires spreading across the Jerusalem hills.

16 injured and dozens of cars were abandoned on route 1 where traffic built up. People fled their vehicles led and ran.

Meanwhile, Arabic social media is filled with… pic.twitter.com/VcqbzwQLzR

— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) April 30, 2025

At the time of publication, the Israeli authorities have not declared a definite cause for any of the fires, although are reports that arson is suspected in some of the cases. 

Channel 14 military correspondent Hillel Biton Rosen pointed to the large number of fires in different areas of the nation, saying, "There are no coincidences here, the Israel Police will have to deal with this matter.”  

The Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) announced it is investigating the fires for possible nationalistic arson, after receiving reports that several of the blazes were manmade. 

Meanwhile, many Independence Day events across Israel have been canceled due to the fires and the need for fire and rescue services to be dedicated to helping those affected.