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Israel's Electric Company Corporation holds first 'war exercise'

According to Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the company intends to prepare for "extreme scenarios of extensive damage to the electricity infrastructure in the event of a multi-arena combat.

Israel's Electric Company Corporation holds first 'war exercise'

Smoke over the occupied Golan Heights, after rocket fire from South Lebanon, July 3, 2024. (Credit: Rabih Daher/AFP)

BEIRUT — Israel's Electric Company Corporation (IEC) announced on Friday that it will "hold its first war exercise of its kind, from Sunday until next Thursday" and that the "exercise will simulate scenarios of damage to network substations and power outages in large areas."

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in daily hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli border since the day after the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began, raising concerns of a full-scale war in Lebanon.

"The Electric Company will hold the first war exercise [which will] begin on Sunday at 7 a.m. and will end on Thursday in the evening," reads the company's statement released on X.

According to Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the company intends to prepare for "extreme scenarios of extensive damage to the electricity infrastructure in the event of a multi-arena combat. For the first time, the company will set up a complete electricity supply system within a few hours, a move designed to ensure regular electricity supply even during a severe crisis."

During the exercise, "convoys of heavy trucks carrying huge transformers, purchased especially for extreme scenarios, will move" and will then get "disassembled, assembled and electrified at four secret points in the north of the country."

"The Electric Company emphasizes that the exercise aims to ensure its readiness for any possible scenario, and to maintain a regular electricity supply even in times of crisis", Israel Hayom added.

Reporting on the same statement, the Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that IEC's exercise simulates the "scenario of a large-scale war against Hezbollah, the targeting of secondary power plants and power outages in large areas, as part of preparations to deal with a large-scale war."

Regarding preparedness on the Lebanese side of the border in case of an extended war, a source at the public electricity supplier EDL confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour early in June that it has a representative on the ministerial emergency committee but does not have a specific plan in the event of a wider war.

“We will make repairs depending on the strikes,” the source explained. Since the start of the war in southern Lebanon, the electricity network in the area has suffered several breakdowns. The Israeli army also targeted repair crews.

BEIRUT — Israel's Electric Company Corporation (IEC) announced on Friday that it will "hold its first war exercise of its kind, from Sunday until next Thursday" and that the "exercise will simulate scenarios of damage to network substations and power outages in large areas."Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in daily hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli border since the day after the...