Fire crews in Jerusalem recently battled close to a dozen separate blazes around the city, including in a dry riverbed near the U.S. Consulate in what the Israeli authorities believe is a wave of arson, local media reported Sunday.

The morning ignition near the consulate led to a series of consecutive fires, including no less than six small blazes which broke out near the Hebrew University, according to Fire and Rescue Services Spokesman Asaf Abras.

The fires near the consulate and the university "followed the same pattern of arson that we've seen in the past few weeks," Abras told The Jerusalem Post.

There were no reports of injures, although some damage to structures was reported at the hillside communities of Aminidav and Ora in the southwest side of the city.

"We are investigating the fire ... and also looking into reports by residents that the fire was the result of arson," Officer Nidam Salomon told Israel National News.

Similar suspicious fires broke out around several disputed areas, including Ramat Shlomo, and Atarot and Pisgat Ze'ev north of the city, and Gilo in the south, Army radio reported.

While Jerusalem police two weeks ago held two Jewish teenagers as suspects in the arson attacks, the continued fires have led them to suspect that others are behind the other blazes.

As well, fire department and police investigators have pointed to Palestinians as being behind many such attacks, as a tactic of harassment against Israelis in general and settlement construction in particular.

Abras said arsonists are likely behind over 200 fires set in open areas in the last two weeks, and more than 2,000 similar fires in the past one and half months. He told the newspaper that, annually, Jerusalem's fire department deals with some 4,000 fires in open areas, fields, and forests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office later released a statement, listing a newly-established aerial firefighting squadron, opening of more fire stations, and fresh funds as the government's efforts to upgrade the country's firefighting capability.