IDF announces new division to defend Israel’s eastern border

The IDF announces the formation of a new division that will be tasked with defending Israel’s eastern border.

The move was approved by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

The IDF says the establishment of the new eastern regional division comes following an examination of the military’s “operational needs and defense capabilities in the area, in accordance with the planning of the IDF’s force build-up, in the light of the lessons of war and the situational assessment.”

The division will be subordinate to IDF Central Command.

“The mission of the division is to strengthen defenses in the border area, Route 90 highway and the communities, and to respond to terror incidents and weapons smuggling, while maintaining a peaceful border and strengthening cooperation with the Jordanian army,” the IDF says.

Currently, the Jordan Valley Regional Brigade, under the Central Command, is tasked with defending about 150 kilometers of the eastern frontier, from the northern part of the Dead Sea in the West Bank to the Hamat Gader hot springs in the Golan Heights.

The Yoav Regional Brigade, under the Southern Command, is responsible for the sparsely populated southern section, from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea resort city of Eilat.