IDF completes massive exercise drilling response to Oct 7-style invasions & other extreme scenarios
Military strives to implement Oct 7 lessons like better coordination, quick response
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completed a first-of-its-kind, large-scale training exercise in the Judea and Samaria regions this week, focusing on complex and surprising attacks, including scenarios like the Oct. 7 invasion by Hamas.
The exercise included the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division and the recently established 96th Gilead Division, training their cooperation in a range of over 40 different scenarios.
Around 180 aircraft participated in the exercise that included representatives from the IDF’s Air Force, Central Command, Operations, Intelligence and Technological and Logistics Directorates, as well as the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Shin Bet, Magen David Adom, the Israel Police and other agencies.
The scenarios included a range of surprise and simultaneous attacks military posts, terrorist infiltrations into multiple communities simultaneously, terror attacks during reserve troop mobilization, combat in densely built-up areas, rescue of trapped individuals, response to mass-casualty incidents and medical evacuation under extreme conditions, and command and control during combat through inter-agency cooperation.
According to Ynet News, one of the drills imagined a large-scale invasion of terrorists from the Jordanian border, a scenario that the Iranian regime has tried to prepare.
The drill included Oct. 7-style killing and kidnapping sprees across Judea and Samaria, after terrorists infiltrated using powered parachutes to drop explosives.
“Ninety percent of the new quick battalion troops in the Gilead Division reported with their weapons and gear within an hour and fifteen minutes. We have many lessons to implement from this exercise and from October 7,” the IDF said.
Dozens of troops arrived in less than 45 minutes, according to Ynet. Drills also tested the quick arrival of reinforcements from the various other borders, which happened only haphazardly on Oct. 7.
The Israeli Air Force trained deploying aircraft capable of carrying significantly more ordnance than those used on Oct. 7.
The IDF stressed that the exercise “incorporated lessons learned from October 7th, including initial strikes, recognizing the critical impact of early response, rapid readiness, deployment of special forces, and full mobilization of IDF troops.”
The military vowed to “continue to conduct regular exercises to ensure high readiness, strengthen cooperation among all troops, and maintain the security of residents in the area and of all Israeli civilians.”
The statement also noted that the exercise was conducted against the backdrop of a complex security reality in Judea and Samaria, where troops are busy conducting counterterrorism operations in Palestinian areas while trying to curb the phenomenon of settler violence that has increased in recent weeks.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
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