Wildfires broke out in the Eshtaol forest near Beit Shemesh on Wednesday morning amid heatwave weather conditions and powerful winds. As of noon, there was five active fires: on Route 2, in Canada Park, Neve Shalom, Mesilat Tzion and Mitzpe Harel. The yishuvim of Neve Shalom, Tekoa, Ta’oz, Nachshon and Mesilat Tzion were evacuated of their residents. The planned Yom HaZikaron ceremony at the Latrun memorial was canceled and the area was evacuated. The police closed Route 3 to traffic along with part of Route 1. There are 63 firefighting teams, 11 planes, and two helicopters working to prevent the fire from spreading amid the strong winds. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)