Associated Press photographers were there as fans danced in the rain during the European Championship soccer match between host Germany and Denmark in Dortmund.
In Olympic trials in the United States, track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set a world record in winning the women’s 400-meter hurdles in Eugene, Oregon. In gymnastics, Tiana Sumanasekera launches onto the uneven bars in Minneapolis.
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Associated Press photographers were there as fans danced in the rain during the European Championship soccer match between host Germany and Denmark in Dortmund.
Brazil's Vinicius Junior (7) celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's third goal against Paraguay during a Copa America Group D soccer match in Las Vegas, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/David Becker)
A cycling fan waves the Italian flag as the pack with France's Romain Bardet, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, left, passes during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Fans dance in the rain as the round of sixteen match between Germany and Denmark at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament was suspended due to adverse weather in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
England's Jude Bellingham, left, celebrates his goal with Harry Kane during a round of sixteen match between England and Slovakia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, sits in his car during the qualifying session for the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna, Pool)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reacts to winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The grounds crew drags the tarp across the infield of Fenway Park during a downpour in the second inning of a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Tiana Sumanasekera competes on the uneven bars at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
An employee holds a medal for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games after finishing touches were added at the workshops of La Monnaie de Paris, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Texas Rangers right fielder Derek Hill, left, with backup from third baseman Josh Smith (8), catches a fly ball hit by Baltimore Orioles' Cedric Mullins during the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma fails to stop a shot for a goal by Switzerland's Ruben Vargas during a round of sixteen match between Switzerland and Italy at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Milwaukee Brewers' Brice Turang looks up as he pops out during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
An India fan cheers before the start of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final cricket match between India and South Africa at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Fans of Uruguay arrive at the stadium before a Copa America Group C soccer match between Uruguay and Bolivia in East Rutherford, N.J., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Anna Hall celebrates after winning the women's 800-meter run event and the overall in the heptathlon during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Monday, June 24, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Peru's Paolo Guerrero, right, and Canada's Kamal Miller battle for a header during a Copa America Group A soccer match in Kansas City, Kan., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
Oakland Athletics' Armando Alvarez slides home to score during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Spain's soccer players workout during a training session at their base camp in Donaueschingen, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, Joscelyn Roberson practices on the uneven bars ahead of the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice lifts the Stanley Cup trophy after Game 7 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers defeated the Oilers 2-1 (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Runners compete in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Other photos include an India fan waving the flag before the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final at Bridgetown, Barbados, where India beat South Africa by just seven runs in a thriller.
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice lifts the Stanley Cup after Game 7 of the final against the Edmonton Oilers in Sunrise, Florida.
The sports gallery was curated by photo editor Dan Derella in New York.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
England's Jude Bellingham, centre right, scores his side's first goal with an overhead kick during a round of sixteen match between England and Slovakia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Brazil's Vinicius Junior (7) celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's third goal against Paraguay during a Copa America Group D soccer match in Las Vegas, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/David Becker)
A cycling fan waves the Italian flag as the pack with France's Romain Bardet, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, left, passes during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Fans dance in the rain as the round of sixteen match between Germany and Denmark at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament was suspended due to adverse weather in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
England's Jude Bellingham, left, celebrates his goal with Harry Kane during a round of sixteen match between England and Slovakia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, sits in his car during the qualifying session for the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna, Pool)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reacts to winning the women's 400-meter hurdles final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The grounds crew drags the tarp across the infield of Fenway Park during a downpour in the second inning of a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Tiana Sumanasekera competes on the uneven bars at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
An employee holds a medal for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games after finishing touches were added at the workshops of La Monnaie de Paris, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Texas Rangers right fielder Derek Hill, left, with backup from third baseman Josh Smith (8), catches a fly ball hit by Baltimore Orioles' Cedric Mullins during the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma fails to stop a shot for a goal by Switzerland's Ruben Vargas during a round of sixteen match between Switzerland and Italy at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Milwaukee Brewers' Brice Turang looks up as he pops out during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
An India fan cheers before the start of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final cricket match between India and South Africa at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Fans of Uruguay arrive at the stadium before a Copa America Group C soccer match between Uruguay and Bolivia in East Rutherford, N.J., Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Anna Hall celebrates after winning the women's 800-meter run event and the overall in the heptathlon during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Monday, June 24, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Peru's Paolo Guerrero, right, and Canada's Kamal Miller battle for a header during a Copa America Group A soccer match in Kansas City, Kan., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
Oakland Athletics' Armando Alvarez slides home to score during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Spain's soccer players workout during a training session at their base camp in Donaueschingen, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, Joscelyn Roberson practices on the uneven bars ahead of the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice lifts the Stanley Cup trophy after Game 7 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers defeated the Oilers 2-1 (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Runners compete in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
CHEBAA, Lebanon (AP) — With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that are tearing through forests and farmland on both sides of the frontline.
The blazes — exacerbated by supply shortages and security concerns — have consumed thousands of hectares of land in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, becoming one of the most visible signs of the escalating conflict.
There is an increasingly real possibility of a full-scale war — one that would have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border. Some fear the fires sparked by a larger conflict would also cause irreversible damage to the land.
In Israel, images of fires sparked by Hezbollah's rockets have driven public outrage and spurred Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to declare last month that it is “time for all of Lebanon to burn.”
Much of it was already burning.
Fires in Lebanon began in late April — earlier than the usual fire season — and have torn through the largely rural areas along the border.
The Sunni town of Chebaa, tucked in the mountains on Lebanon’s southeastern edge, has little Hezbollah presence, and the town hasn't been targeted as frequently as other border villages. But the sounds of shelling still boom regularly, and in the mountains above it, formerly oak-lined ridges are charred and bare.
In a cherry orchard on the outskirts of town, clumps of fruit hang among browned leaves after a fire sparked by an Israeli strike tore through. Firefighters and local men — some using their shirts to beat out flames — stopped the blaze from reaching houses and U.N. peacekeeper center nearby.
“Grass will come back next year, but the trees are gone,” said Moussa Saab, whose family owns the orchard. “We’ll have to get saplings and plant them, and you need five or seven years before you can start harvesting.”
Saab refuses to leave with his wife and 8-year-old daughter. They can't afford to live elsewhere, and they fear not being able to return, as happened to his parents when they left the disputed Chebaa Farms area — captured from Syria by Israel in 1967 and claimed by Lebanon.
The slopes of Mount Meron, Israel’s second-highest mountain and home to an air base, were long covered in native oak trees, a dense grove providing shelter to wild pigs, gazelles, and rare species of flowers and fauna.
Now the green slopes are interrupted by three new burn scars — the largest a few hundred square meters — remnants of a Hezbollah explosive drone shot down a few weeks ago. Park rangers worry that devastation has just begun.
“The damage this year is worse a dozen times over this year,” said Shai Koren, of the northern district for Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority.
Looking over the slopes of Meron, Koren said he doesn’t expect this forest to survive the summer: “You can take a before and after picture.”
Since the war began, the Israeli military has tracked 5,450 launches toward northern Israel. According to Israeli think tank the Alma Research and Education Center, most early launches were short-range anti-tank missiles, but Hezbollah's drone usage has increased.
In Lebanon, officials and human rights groups accuse Israel of firing white phosphorus incendiary shells at residential areas, in addition to regular artillery shelling and airstrikes.
The Israeli military says it uses white phosphorus only as a smokescreen, not to target populated areas. But even in open areas, the shells can spark fast-spreading fires.
The border clashes began Oct. 8, a day after the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and sparked the war in Gaza. There, more than 37,000 have been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Hezbollah began launching rockets into northern Israel to open what it calls a “support front” for Hamas, to pull Israeli forces away from Gaza.
Israel responded, and attacks spread across the border region. In northern Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 450 people — mostly fighters, but also 80-plus civilians and noncombatants — have been killed.
Exchanges have intensified since early May, when Israel launched its incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. That coincided with the beginning of the hot, dry wildfire season.
Since May, Hezbollah strikes have resulted in 8,700 hectares (about 21,500 acres) burned in northern Israel, according to Israel's Nature and Parks Authority.
Eli Mor, of Israel’s Fire and Rescue, said drones, which are much more accurate than rockets, often “come one after another, the first one with a camera and the second one will shoot.”
“Every launch is a real threat,” Mor added.
In southern Lebanon, about 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) have burned due to Israeli strikes, said George Mitri, of the Land and Natural Resources program at the University of Balamand. In the two years before, he said, Lebanon's total area burned annually was 500 to 600 hectares (1,200 to 1,500 acres).
Security concerns hamper the response to a fire's first crucial hours. Firefighting planes are largely grounded over fears they'll be shot down. On the ground, firefighters often can't move without army escorts.
“If we lose half an hour or an hour, it might take us an extra day or two days to get the fire under control,” said Mohammad Saadeh, head of the Chebaa civil defense station. The station responded to 27 fires in three weeks last month — nearly as many as a normal year.
On the border's other side, Moran Arinovsky used to be a chef and is now deputy commander of the emergency squad at Kibbutz Manara. With about 10 others, he's fought more than 20 fires in the past two months.
Mor, of Israel’s Fire and Rescue, said firefighters often must triage.
“Sometimes we have to give up on open areas that are not endangering people or towns,” Mor said.
The border areas are largely depopulated. Israel's government evacuated a 4-kilometer strip early in the war, leaving only soldiers and emergency personnel. In Lebanon, there's no formal evacuation order, but large swathes have become virtually uninhabitable.
Some 95,000 people in Lebanon and 60,000 people in Israel have been displaced for nine months.
Kibbutz Sde Nehemia didn't evacuate, and Efrat Eldan Schechter said some days she watches helplessly as plumes of smoke grow closer to home.
“There's a psychological impact, the knowledge and feeling that we’re alone,” she said, because firefighters can't access certain areas.
Israel’s cowboys, who graze beef cattle in the Golan Heights, often band together to fight blazes when firefighters cannot arrive quickly.
Schechter noted that news footage of flames tearing across hillsides has focused more attention on the conflict in her backyard, instead of solely on the Gaza war. “Only when the fires started, only then we are in the headlines in Israel," she said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that as fighting in Gaza winds down, Israel will send more troops to its northern border. That could open a new front and raise the risk of more destructive fires.
Koren says natural wildfires are a normal part of the forest's lifecycle and can promote ecodiversity, but not the fires from the conflict. “The moment the fires happen over and over, that’s what creates the damage,” he said.
Lidman reported from northern Israel.
The sun sets behind the mountains next to the the towns of Kiryat Shmona and Metula, located near the border with Lebanon, as seen from Mas'ade, a village in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Sunday, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A burned field from previous shelling attacks from Lebanon is pictured in Safed, northern Israel, Friday, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A cow stands under a tree next to a burned area affected by a fire that sparked out after a shelling attack from Lebanon, in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Riding his horse, Arnon Notman, 73, left, a cowboy from the Merom Golan kibbutz, rounds up the cattle after arriving in the ranch on an area in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Erez Ashtamker, 45, ranch manager of the Merom Golan kibbutz, center, rides his horse as they round up cattle in an area in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Cowboys from the Merom Golan kibbutz Ychiel Alon, 61 and Arnon Notman, 73, left, prepare their horses to gather the cattle on an area in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Boys look at a damaged car after shelling fired from Lebanon in Katsrin, a city near the border with Lebanon, northern Israel, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
An Israeli flag flutters next to a fire burning in an area near the border with Lebanon, northern Israel in Safed, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Scores of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Wednesday morning, hours after Israeli airstrikes killed four officials from the militant Hezbollah group including a senior military commander. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE - Shells that appears to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explode over Dahaira, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, on Oct. 16, 2023. With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that are tearing through forests and farmland on both sides of the frontline. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Firefighters check a burned area at Biriya Forest, from previous shelling attacks from Lebanon, near the town of Hatzor Haglilit, northern Israel, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Firefighters check a burned area at Biriya Forest, from previous shelling attacks from Lebanon, near the town of Hatzor Haglilit, northern Israel, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
FILE - Israeli firefighters work to extinguish a fire burning in an area near the border with Lebanon, in Safed, northern Israel, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Scores of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Wednesday morning, hours after Israeli airstrikes killed four officials from the militant Hezbollah group including a senior military commander. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE - Smoke rises to the sky as a fire burns an area after a Lebanese shelling, in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
Ibrahim Nabaa, gestures as he stands in front of cherry trees that were burned by Israeli shelling at a cherry orchard, in Chebaa, a Lebanese town near the border with Israel, south Lebanon, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that are tearing through forests and farmland on both sides of the frontline. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rise from fires that erupted at open hills by Israeli shelling, in Chebaa, a Lebanese town near the border with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, June 14, 2024. With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that are tearing through forests and farmland on both sides of the frontline. (AP Photo/Ramiz Dallah)
Lebanese Civil Defence firefighters extinguish fires that erupted by Israeli shelling at a cherry orchard in Chebaa, a Lebanese town near the border with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, June 14, 2024. AP Photo/Ramiz Dallah)
A man shows a tree of cherry that was burned by Israeli shelling at a cherry orchard, in Chebaa, a Lebanese town near the border with Israel, south Lebanon, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that are tearing through forests and farmland on both sides of the frontline. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese farmer Moussa Saab, checks a cherry tree at his orchard, in Chebaa, a Lebanese town near the border with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, June 14, 2024. With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that are tearing through forests and farmland on both sides of the frontline. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
FILE - Smoke rises to the sky as a fire burns an area after a Lebanese shelling, in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE - A plane uses a fire retardant to extinguish a fire burning in an area near the border with Lebanon, in Safed, northern Israel, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Scores of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Wednesday morning, hours after Israeli airstrikes killed four officials from the militant Hezbollah group including a senior military commander. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
