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 in arson and attempted arson in the Jerusalem area after receiving reports of suspects attempting to light fires. 

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

One of the suspects, in his 50s, was said to be a resident of the Um Tuba neighborhood in East Jerusalem. He was arrested after he was observed trying to start a fire in an open field south of the city. 

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 pictures of the fires along with comments such as, "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 during the day, along with an illustration of a person wearing a keffiyeh setting fires to fields near a burning town. 

A Palestinian account on X posted the message, “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 by 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 time of publication, the Israeli authorities have not declared a definite cause for any of the fires, although there have been 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 country, saying, "There are no coincidences here, the Israel Police will have to deal with this matter.”  

The Shin Bet announced that 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 cancelled due to the fires and the need for fire and rescue services to be devoted to helping those affected.