Fires broke out late Wednesday night in nine residential buildings across the southern city of Be'er Sheva.
Arson is suspected in buildings located on Ha'aliyah Street, Derech Shimshon, Rabbi Uziel Street, Tabenkin Street, Tel Hai Street, Derech Hameshahrerim, Hogla Street, Moriah Street, and Radak Square.
Throughout the night, dozens of calls were received at Fire and Rescue Service's 102 hotline reporting fires in apartment buildings ranging from three to five stories tall on the various streets.
Firefighting teams from the Be'er Sheva station were dispatched to fires that erupted in the buildings' apartments, lobbies, and bomb shelters.
Upon arriving at the different scenes - some simultaneously - firefighters identified fires in the buildings' lobbies, electrical cabinets, and shelters. Fire crews worked to extinguish the flames and conducted thorough searches for trapped individuals in all apartments, following reports by residents of smoke on every floor.
Most residents were instructed to remain inside their homes, place wet cloths at the door thresholds, close windows and doors, and move to interior rooms.
During the night’s fires, approximately 15 people-among them children and infants-were rescued by firefighters from smoke-filled apartments and transferred to medical teams present at the scenes.
A fire investigator has been called in to investigate the cause of the fires.