Israel Performs Nation-Wide Drill to Prepare for 3-Front War
[Times of Israel] Israel will be briefly jolted back into last summer's ordeal with rockets, sirens and army maneuvers beginning Sunday, as the military's Home Front Command holds a yearly emergency drill simulating three enemies attacking the country at once.
Turning Point 15 will test the preparedness of the country to deal with a massive coordinated rocket attack on population centers across Israel, including damage to essential infrastructure, as well as a cyber attack that brings down the electrical and telephone grids.
It is expected to last five days. On Tuesday, two rocket sirens will ring out in cities across the country -- at 11:05 a.m. and 7:05 p.m. -- and people will be asked to rush to bomb shelters in a test of their ability to seek cover in case of rocket attack.
Sirens, however, will not sound near the Gaza Strip after residents, scarred by last summer's war, asked to be excluded.
The drill, which will simulate simultaneous attacks from the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon, will involve Home Front command officers, as well as police, medics, firefighters, local officials and other bodies.
The air force and navy will also run large exercises over the week. Among the simulated challenges will be drilling for the closing of Ben-Gurion International Airport due to attacks, evacuating wounded out of the country, large population movements as people seek to find shelter and the creation of tent cities, according to the Walla news site.
The Home Front Command will also test a new system designed to inform citizens of rocket attacks in their area via text messages.
Posted by: Besoeker 2015-06-03 |