Israeli soldiers along the border between Israel and Lebanon on May 18, 2021. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
BEIRUT — Israel started conducting "sudden military exercises" Saturday evening close to the border with Lebanon. The drill is expected to continue until Tuesday evening, Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee tweeted Saturday.
The exercises “aim at enhancing the readiness" of the Israeli army's "field units and their supporting logistical units for sudden and various scenarios on the northern front,” Adraee continued.
5,000 reservists called up by exceptional orders
He stated that the exercises are led by the Technology and Logistics Authority, “where military units will be trained from the battalion level through brigades, divisions, district commanders, and even the staff.”
He also added that about “8,000 regular service soldiers will participate in the exercise, in addition to about 5,000 reservists who have been called up by exceptional orders.”
Adraee warned that during the exercise, the forces will “simulate dealing with operational scenarios on the northern front in general and in the logistical field in particular, in addition to cooperation with ground forces units.”
He concluded by stating that the “the northern region will witness active movements of the security forces, as the exercise was planned in advance within the framework of the annual training plan for the year 2022.”
At no point does the military spokesperson mention Hezbollah or the Lebanese Army in his tweets.
In September, Israel conducted military exercises close to the Lebanese border.
In late October, Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered maritime border demarcation agreement at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura, South Lebanon, after months of tension between the two sides following the arrival of an Israel-deployed floating gas production unit on June 5 in a disputed offshore area.
In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a 34-day war. Israeli forces launched air, sea and land raids into Lebanon, while Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at cities and towns across the border. According to Human Rights Watch, the war resulted in 1,109 deaths in Lebanon. The vast majority of the victims were civilians. Another 4,399 people in Lebanon were injured. Hezbollah's attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 43 Israeli civilians and 12 Israeli soldiers, as well as hundreds of injured Israeli civilians.
Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace also occur almost daily. Over the period from 2007 to December 2021, no fewer than 22,111 Israeli fighter jets entered Lebanese skies. The Israeli air force regularly targets Syria via Lebanese airspace.
