The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported today, Monday, that the Home Front Command in Israel recently concluded an unprecedented exercise on dealing with extensive damage caused by the fall of large cluster missiles from Iran.
According to the newspaper, the Israeli command recently rehabilitated the Zikim base north of the Gaza Strip for conducting the exercises, where a rescue and relief battalion from the Western Galilee sector trained on rescuing individuals trapped in a site of extensive destruction set up alongside the base, as part of enhancing readiness to handle complex emergency scenarios, huge fires, and a cyberattack disrupting the location of trapped individuals.
Yedioth Ahronoth clarified that the forces trained on scenarios that Israel had faced in June last year during the 12-day war with Tehran, especially when Iranian cluster missiles fell on Rehovot and "Ramat Gan", causing extensive destruction.
Iranian Cluster Missiles
The Israeli army estimates that the Iranians will use this type of missiles again in the next round, according to the Israeli newspaper.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Iranian cluster missiles open at tens of meters above the target and scatter small munitions within a circle extending for several kilometers, in addition to the warhead of the missile.
During the exercise, the fighters were requested to find unexploded ordnance in the vicinity of the destruction sites that were classified as unexploded and dangerous munitions.
The newspaper quoted the commander of the Western Galilee sector, Colonel Shai Shemesh, as saying that the forces trained on a multiple casualty scenario within the rubble and applied a large number of lessons learned from the war with Iran in the middle of last year, including dealing with large destruction zones that extended through several streets.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation yesterday, Sunday, quoted an unnamed Israeli military official as saying that Tel Aviv cannot coexist with the ballistic missile capabilities possessed by Iran.
The United States has enhanced its military deployment in the Middle East, where it sent a naval strike group led by the aircraft carrier "Abraham Lincoln", following President Donald Trump's threat of military intervention in Iran against the backdrop of protests it witnessed last December.
This deployment and threat have sparked fears of a possible direct confrontation with Iran, which has repeatedly warned that it will respond with missile strikes on bases, ships, and allies of the United States, especially Israel, in case it is attacked.
