While Hamas resumes Kassam attacks on Israel civilians, the IDF wraps up a large-scale exercise under the Southern Command to prepare soldiers “for every possible scenario.”
The drill included regular and reserves soldiers for combat in the Gaza region, where the de facto Hamas government fired another Kassam rocket at Israel on Tuesday, narrowly missing a direct hit on civilians. Without any connection to the exercise, the Israeli Air Force Tuesday night bombed a weapons storage facility in the Gaza area in response.
The exercise was planned in advance as part of the annual training program and regular exercise plan in order to fully prepare soldiers. Officers implemented maneuvers based on lessons learned from previous exercises and during the Operation Cast Lead counter terrorist war last year.
Ground, air and naval forces and military intelligence branch participated in the exercise, stressing cooperation and coordination between the different bodies and military branches. Earlier this week, a soldier lost his life when comrades mistakenly fired on his tank unit in what apparently was the result of failing to communicate during a hunt for suspected terrorists who had infiltrated from Gaza.
One circumstance that complicated the terrorist hunting maneuver and may have resulted in the tragic death was the military order that the tank unit not fire artillery due to fears of possibly wounding civilians. Instead, the tank unit approached the separation barrier on foot and was thus mistaken for the infiltrators.
The military drill placed an emphasis on humanitarian aspects and maintenance of reasonable living conditions for Palestinian Authority Arab civilians in Gaza during combat. New weapons and information systems were integrated in order to improve the combat capability in the region.
The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi visited the exercise in the Southern Command, which is under the command of Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant.