IDF’s new Mountains Brigade drills Lebanon invasion in first exercise

The IDF’s newly formed 810th Mountains Regional Brigade, tasked with operating in the rugged Mount Hermon and Mount Dov regions in northern Israel, carried out its first exercise, simulating an offensive inside Lebanon, the military says.

The drill included “attack scenarios in Lebanon, including combat in dense vegetation [and] combat in urban areas,” the IDF says.

The Mountains Brigade, commanded by Col. Liron Appleman, was established in March, replacing the Hermon Regional Brigade. The army says the move was part of “adapting the operational response to the changing reality on the Syria-Lebanon border.”

The exercise comes amid daily attacks by the Hezbollah terror group on northern Israel amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has warned it can no longer tolerate Hezbollah’s presence along its border following the October 7 atrocities, and has warned that should a diplomatic solution not be reached, it will turn to military action to push Hezbollah northward.