Surprise Israeli military drill simulates war with Hezbollah

Military officials said the exercise is intended to “boost the readiness” of the military to meet “sudden events and various scenarios” in the north.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

The Israel Defense Forces launched surprise military drill simulating war with Hezbollah from Lebanon.

The exercise began Saturday night and will continue until Tuesday. Military officials said the exercise is intended to “boost the readiness” of the military to meet “sudden events and various scenarios” in the north related to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxy groups.

An IDF statement said the exercise was pre-scheduled and not related to any current developments.

“During the exercise, the forces will practice how to manage a sudden deployment in the face of operational scenarios in the northern arena, with an emphasis on logistics network readiness and cooperation between units of the land arm,” the statement said.

It added that 8,000 serving soldiers and another 5,000 reservists were participating in the drill, referred to as “Warm Winter 2.”

Israel has launched numerous strikes on Iranian military infrastructure and weapons in Syria for several years. Israeli officials do not comment on specific strikes, but have acknowledged the strikes in a general way. The most recent air strike presumed to be carried out by Israel was an attack on an undisclosed location in southern Syria on Saturday.

Separately, according to a widely cited Arab media report on Saturday, Israel threatened to bomb the Beirut International Airport over Iranian weapons deliveries being made on civilian flights. Israeli officials have not commented on the report, which was published in the London-based Asharq al-Awsat.