Residents in at least two towns in the path of the most serious blazes were forced to evacuate their homes. Several roads were closed to traffic.

Israel handed over the Bahraini citizens at the international airport near Tel Aviv, BNA said, without saying how many people were involved. Bahrain - a staunch U.S. ally which also hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth fleet - doesn't recognize Israel and reports of the trip were the first to be announced publicly.

A poll released this week showed that PA Arabs are reluctant to grant rights to Jews or Christians within areas demanded for a PA state. A survey conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development among 1,200 Arab residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza found that did not feel Jerusalem should be shared with Jews and Christians.

When asked to what extent they agreed with a statement made by United States President Barack Obama that Jerusalem should be “a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims,” less than 17 percent said they agree, while 20 percent said they “somewhat agree.” More than 42 percent said they disagree with the statement, while 17 percent “somewhat disagree.”

JEWISH VIEWS ON RIGHTS IN YESHA

Another new poll showed that most Israeli Jews believe that any future Palestinian Authority-led Arab state in Judea and Samaria should provide Jews with equal rights, including the right to live freely in its territory. The statistic was revealed Thursday by a Maagar Mochot poll published by the Independent Media Review and Analysis.

58% of the 506 Israeli Jews surveyed said they believed Israel should insist that any future PA state respect the right of Jews to live in its territory. 31% believed Israel should not insist that Jews be allowed to live in a PA state.

An even larger majority of those polled believed that Israel should insist that the PA commit to allowing Jews full access to Jewish holy sites in Judea and Samaria, including those considered holy by Muslims as well. 82% said Israel should insist on access to holy sites, while only 11% said Israel should not make such a demand.

Roughly 300,000 Jews reside in Judea and Samaria, and approximately 250,000 more live in Jerusalem neighborhoods demanded by the PA. These views exposed by the Maagar Mochot poll are at odds with government policy, which has been to forcibly remove Jews from PA areas in line with PA demands that any future Arab state in Judea and Samaria be rid of the current Jewish minority.

"The Israelis have indicated that they will pay compensation, particularly for our buildings that have been destroyed," said Karen Koning AbuZayd, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Some incidents were not accurately portrayed by senior U.N. officials. John Ging, the director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, spoke to the Toronto Globe and Mail and agreed that no shell had actually struck the school building. According to the Washington Post, the United Nations said in February that Israeli mortar fire Jan. 6 had landed just outside a U.N.-run school housing refugees from the fighting but did not hit the school itself.