Middle East Monitor / May 10, 2021
The Israeli army said it has ordered the Air Force to prepare an updated bank of targets for attack in the besieged Gaza Strip, the Walla news site reported.
The site said the head of Operations Directorate, Major General Aharon Haliva, issued on Saturday evening instructions to the Air Force to update the bank of targets in the Gaza Strip and prepare for “security deterioration”.
According to the site, the Israeli army has also increased the number of surveillance drones and intensified the military deployment near the Gaza fence including snipers and small-scale fighters.
On Saturday, Defence Minister Benny Gantz approved a plan to raise the army’s level of preparedness.
This came during security consultations with Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, senior army officers, and representatives of the police and the Shin Bet security service, as a result of the brutal attacks by Israeli forces against unarmed Palestinian protesters and worshippers in occupied East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel’s Channel 13 army correspondent, Alon Ben David, said Kochavi had ordered his forces to prepare for a large battle with the Gaza Strip.
