Russia will send aircraft to help combat wildfires raging in Israel, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Friday.

The president has ordered the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry to provide planes to help put out fires near the Israeli city of Haifa, reported Interfax news agency.

"We plan to send an Il-76 airplane capable of dumping 42 tons of water on wildfires at a time, a Be-200 amphibious airplane and a Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter capable of carrying 15 tons of water," the ministry spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova told Interfax.

The first Il-76 plane has taken off from Moscow region on Friday morning, she said.

On Thursday, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Russian aircraft would remain in Israel for at least 10 days and Russia is ready to send more firefighting planes and equipment to the fire-hit country if needed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday asked four foreign states to help tackle a large-scale forest fire raging in the northwest of the country.

The latest reports put the death toll from the fire at around 40.