Khaberni - In a move reflecting a strategic shift in Israeli security priorities, the Israeli occupation army has reactivated several old military sites abandoned for decades on the eastern border with Jordan, as part of a new plan aimed at enhancing protection against potential mass infiltration attempts from the east, according to what the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The sites being reused date back to the 1970s and were built over the dense plant cover of the Jordan River, before being neglected and left to deteriorate to the extent that some of them have become shelters for animals, including bats. However, the army has recently begun restoring these abandoned defense points, as part of a larger network of fortifications including supply depots and new earth berms.
According to the newspaper, the occupation army is conducting a comprehensive modernization of about 50 miles out of 250 miles which is the length of the border with Jordan, in the context of the first development operation of this magnitude, and includes the establishment of modern physical barriers and the installation of advanced electronic surveillance systems. The plan is based on a security assumption that assumes the possibility of armed groups attempting to cross the eastern border to carry out offensive operations inside Israeli territories, concurrently with field movements inside the West Bank. To confront this scenario, the army has formed a new reserve unit during the war named the Gilad 96 Brigade, consisting mostly of volunteers aged between 40 and 60 years. However, the report indicated that the pace of recruitment has been slow so far, and the unit is still not fully ready.
The Central Command in the Israeli Army has gradually begun to expand its control over more sectors of the Jordanian border, with the intention of establishing a new command center that oversees the entire eastern border, including the Jordan Valley area, similar to the regional command centers.
This year, the Central Command also plans to enhance the Jordan Valley Brigade by adding two new companies from the "Jaguar" special units, equipped with fast armored vehicles prepared for rugged terrain missions, and equipped with "Catalan" systems — remote-controlled machine guns operated from within the vehicle, giving soldiers the ability to respond quickly without exposing themselves to danger.
