The IDF has decided to cancel all troop leaves in order to maintain a state of readiness to assist security and firefighting forces against the wildfires that have broken out around the country.

About 100 victims of smoke inhalation and anxiety have been evacuated to hospitals in the north. Tens of thousands of residents of the city of Haifa have been ordered to evacuate their homes. Haifa's main thoroughfares were closed due to the fire.

Firefighting airplanes are spreading fire-extinguishing materials on houses in these areas and high-voltage wires have been disconnected.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that eight neighborhoods across Haifa had already been evacuated.

Six separate fires are currently burning around Haifa, choking city streets with smoke.

Regarding the preliminary investigation into the fires and the possibility of a large, coordinated arson effort, Chief of Police Roni Alsheich said that all efforts were being made to uncover the cause of the blazes, adding that some arrests had already been made.

“We have a special integrated investigation team that is monitoring everything that is happening across the country. I don’t want to get into questions regarding where [we suspect] arson and where we do not.”

“If this is [confirmed] as arson, it could be nationalistically motivated. It’s certainly not just pyromania," he said, measuring his words carefully. "And there have been arrests.”