JERUSALEM (JTA) — Three homes in a West Bank settlement near Hebron were damaged Wednesday in a fire caused by Molotov cocktails.

Security camera footage showed three men throwing the firebombs at the security fence in the Etzion bloc, the Israeli military said. Residents were evacuated from the area while firefighters doused the flames as fears loomed that other homes would catch fire.

The fire came on a day when a strong heatwave gripped the county, which has set records for high temperatures for the month of July.

A fire that broke out Wednesday near the Gaza border sparked by an arson balloon required four firefighting planes and at least a half dozen firefighting units to extinguish.

Nine other fires caused by the heat also were brought under control in the area. Large fires also broke out in central and northern Israel due to drought conditions.

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