Sirens sound in Haifa as part of Air Force drill
City’s residents to hear heavy air traffic and explosions during military exercise Sunday
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleRaoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
Two sirens were set to sound in Haifa Sunday — at 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. — as part of an Israel Air Force drill taking place in the skies above the northern city.
The alarms are testing warning systems at the Ramat David Israeli Air Force base, as IAF planes take part in a training drill Sunday through Monday.
The military exercise will include the mass mobilization of jets, and Haifa residents are expected to hear heavy air traffic throughout the day as well as explosions.
The IDF stressed that the exercise was planned as part of the 2015 training schedule and is unconnected to the recent spike in violence.
Overnight, IAF jets struck at two Hamas weapons manufacturing facilities in the northern Gaza Strip early Sunday, following two rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli towns, the army said. A Palestinian woman and her toddler daughter was killed, according to Gaza medical sources.
In August, the air force took part in a huge multilateral air drill together with a number of other countries at the US Air Force base Exercise Red Flag in Nevada.
More than 100 planes and over 2,500 personnel are took part in the event, which along with the US Air Force and NATO members, includes a number of specially invited countries including Jordan and Singapore.
The Times of Israel Community.