Middle East Monitor / June 13, 2022
The Israel Defence Forces will be conducting military drills today and tomorrow along the nominal border fence with the besieged Gaza Strip. The movement of civilians will not be affected by the drills, the IDF confirmed.
According to Israel Hayom, the army explained that it is “preparing and training continuously for multiple scenarios, including threats from Iran.” In this scenario, it is believed that Iran’s allies in Yemen, Syria and Iraq could target Israeli territory with missiles or drones. The IDF will also continue to conduct military exercises within Israel itself as the country faces internal threats from Palestinian resistance factions.
The latest drills come after the IDF has been taking part in a month-long military exercise called “Chariots of Fire“. As part of this, there was an “Iran aerial exercise” which simulated a wide-ranging regional conflict. Thousands of soldiers and reservists took part, across all army commands, the air force and the navy. It was all intended to improve the readiness of the IDF to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously.
The Gaza Strip has been under a strict Israeli-led siege for 14 years and has been subjected to repeated IDF military offensives which have destroyed infrastructure, killed and wounded thousands of civilians, and led to unemployment and poverty. Gaza also borders Egypt, which helps to reinforce Israel’s siege.
