Reserve soldiers
Reserve soldiersTomer Neuberg

On Tuesday the IDF completed a large-scale exercise for the Sinai Division, whose sole purpose is to fight in the Gaza Strip.

A senior army officer said that despite the fact that the exercise was planned in advance on the IDF's training roster, "the fact that we are choosing a division like this indicates the need to be prepared at all times. A scenario of sudden escalation and transition from everyday life to emergency is something that is prevalent and possible in our regions."

In the exercise, to which 2,000 reserve soldiers were summarily summoned with a very high turnout rate, all scenarios typical of the Gaza Strip were rehearsed in light of the lessons learned from Operation Protective Edge and according to new intelligence and military assessments.

For example, emergency warehouses of the reserve units were examined, as were transportation to the unit, and operational and general subjects.

"The three-day exercise effectively encompassed all that is required of this reserve division, and in light of the preliminary data, it passed successfully," the army says.