“There will not be a unit that will not participate in this exercise,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Brigadier Ran Kohav said, entitled Chariots of Fire.
Thousands of soldiers and reservists from all three branches of the military take part in the four-week exercises.
These war games are unprecedented in scope and will allow the army to maintain a high level of preparedness in an ever-changing environment, the IDF said in a statement.
Against this background, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other Palestinian groups last night declared a state of alert in Gaza to face a possible invasion.
We are in permanent session to oversee the actions of the occupying forces, the body bringing together the factions’ various military wings said in a statement.
The escalation coincides with reports in The Times of Israel newspaper that Tel Aviv authorities are analyzing scenarios for a possible operation in the occupied territories.
According to the source, during a meeting to assess the issue, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett backed an offensive against the Gaza Strip, where two million Palestinians live, but Defense Minister Benny Gantz and senior military and security internal intelligence (Shin Bet) co-defended one in the West Bank its epicenter in the city of Jenin.
In May 2021, the IDF shelled the coastal enclave for 11 days in a campaign that killed more than 250 Palestinians and caused about $570 million in casualties.
Over the past month and a half, the wave of violence in the region has increased following the extensive Israeli operations in the West Bank, which have included multiple attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, and the response by Palestinian militias that have carried out several attacks in this country.
In light of the situation, Israeli politicians and the media have stepped up their calls for the Bennett administration to resume its strategy of selective assassinations of Palestinian leaders, particularly Hamas.
The target is the leader of this group in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, for his systematic calls for intensified attacks on the occupying forces.
Both Hamas and other Palestinian forces have warned that if Israel resumes these policies, it will respond by launching rockets and repeating suicide bombings.
jcm/rob