‘Israel’ Testing Skills for Next War with Hezbollah in Mock Village
Local Editor
Between a collection of concrete buildings with Arabic graffiti that are designed to simulate a typical Lebanese village, dozens of ‘Israeli' officers are gearing up for their next battle with Hezbollah.
It's a mission the ‘Israeli' military focused on intensely in the decade since it fought an inconclusive month-long war with Hezbollah. But this drill at a base in north of the occupied territories takes on added significance in the wake of rising tensions between the old adversaries.
Though officers taking part in the drill insisted their training was business as usual, the backdrop clearly offered a reminder of what could await.
"We are trying to give the commanders and the soldiers the environment that looks like the real war so that they can have the feeling, when they will have to go to war, they will feel that they did it before. This is the purpose of the training - to prepare for the real thing," said Col. Kobi Valer, commander of the Elyakim Military Base north of the occupied Palestine. "The forces need to know that this could be their last training before the war."
In this respect, the ‘Israeli' entity has repeatedly stated it will act to ‘prevent Hezbollah getting advanced munitions and is widely believed to have carried out several airstrikes in recent years on weapons convoys destined for the resistance movement. Just recently, the Zionist entity made a rare admission of such a strike after Syria fired missiles at its jets. Still, ‘Israel' fears some advanced weapons like surface-to-sea weapons or anti-aircraft missiles might already have reached Hezbollah.
‘Israel', meanwhile, has been building up its missile systems. One system called "David's Sling" to intercept medium-range missiles from Hezbollah is due to become operational in early April. That would mark the completion of a multilayer missile system that includes "Iron Dome" for short range rockets and "Arrow," designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles high in the stratosphere.
Although the ‘Israeli' intelligence apparatus does not believe Hezbollah is interested in sparking war this year, but it assumes that an unplanned escalation could result from all the developments taking place.
In the mock village in Elyakim, the ‘Israeli' reserve officers focused on the type of urban warfare that their comrades struggled with in 2006.
Using paintball pellets to simulate battle, they raided structures featuring colorful murals of top Hezbollah figures and opened fire at fellow officers playing the roles of guerrillas.
Moving in swift formations, commanders hollered orders as the troops ascended the various structures firing yellow paint pellets toward their supposed adversaries.
"All of this facility is meant to give us a more realistic feeling," said Capt. Ofek Sinai, a 26-year-old reserve platoon commander.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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