The United States Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, visited a fire station in the southern city of Sderot on Wednesday to see first-hand how firefighters are battling the ongoing blazes caused by incendiary airborne devices launched from the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

Friedman thanked the firefighters for their courage and praised the strong friendship between Israel and the U.S. During his visit, the ambassador met with 10 American firefighters, who came to Israel to help extinguish the fires which have consumed thousands of acres of land in southern Israel.

“They demonstrated an amazing solidarity between the American people and the Israeli people. It’s an act of true friendship and true love and I think the people here know that if the United States would need help, the Israelis would come to the United States to help,” Friedman said in a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

“I don’t think there is a better way to demonstrate solidarity, love, and cooperation between the United States and Israel,” he added.
The American firefighters volunteered through the Emergency Volunteers Project (EVP) in collaboration with the Jewish Federations of North America. They arrived Tuesday in the Jewish State to help extinguish blazes in Israeli communities along the Gaza Strip.

The firefighters from California, Florida, Maryland, Texas and Michigan have already assisted in putting out fires in more than ten locations in Israel’s south.

On Tuesday, firefighters battled 15 blazes in southern Israel sparked by arson balloons and kites emanating from Gaza. The fires broke out at the agriculture communities of Nir Am, Tlamim, Erez, Holit, Shokeda, and Kissufim among other places, a spokesman for the Fire and Rescue Services Southern District said.

[Photo: U.S. Embassy Jerusalem / YouTube ]