Firefighting planes from Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Italy are on their way to help fight the blaze in Israel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday in a post on platform X.

“We support the fight against devastating fires in Israel,” the President notes, adding that the European Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated.

“This is EU solidarity in action,” she states.

Earlier on Thursday, the Cyprus Police announced that after coordination between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, and Justice and Public Order, the helicopter AKRITAS, of the Police Air Operations Unit departed for Israel, with a crew of four, to assist in efforts to battle wildfires there.