IDF warns of sirens, explosions in Jerusalem-area emergency drill
Military says exercises were pre-scheduled as part of 2019 work plan aimed at ensuring operational readiness; drill expected to last until Wednesday evening
Illustrative: Members of the Knesset Honor Guard, Home Front Command, Firefighters, IDF, and Israel Police, participate in an emergency drill simulating a drone attack on the Knesset territory with a chemical substance, on June 16, 2016. (Yaniv Nadav/Flash90)
The Israel Defense Forces will conduct a large-scale drill in the Jerusalem area on Monday afternoon and warned residents not to be alarmed by sirens and even apparent explosions.
The drill will take place in the greater Jerusalem area, the nearby settlement of Anatot and the Binyamin council area.
The army said residents should expect increased military vehicle traffic, sirens and even explosions on some of the bases in the region.
The IDF said the exercises were scheduled as part of the 2019 work plan aimed at ensuring operational readiness. The drill was expected to last until Wednesday evening.
The exercise comes after the IDF Home Front Command organized a massive exercise in the Binyamin region last week, complete with pyrotechnics, smoke machines, rocket sirens, and simulated casualties.
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Military and civilian medics evacuate simulated casualties during an IDF exercise in the Kfar Adumim settlement in the central West Bank on December 11, 2019. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)
This year, the Home Front Command’s exercises with these local authorities were focused on preparing for war scenarios, not earthquakes as in some previous years.
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