Israeli Army simulates northern war amid concerns over Hezbollah ‘precision’ missile threat

Ilay Levy, squad commander in an elite Israeli paratrooper unit told The Algemeiner in a recent interview. “[It] was quite difficult and hard because of the cold and harsh weather conditions and a lack of sleep."

The drill also sought to specifically strengthen the “resilience” of the battalion by improving the mental and physical capabilities, as well as combat fitness, of the soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces said.

“During the drill, there was a lot of emphasis on combined combat — for example, with tanks and integrating the fighting of ground troops with the Israeli Air Force,” he said. “This is where we need to improve.”

“We know that the enemy is not a weak enemy. It is a skilled, trained enemy with a lot of experience from previous fighting in Syria and other places and has technologies which pose a big threat on us,” Levy told The Algemeiner.

The exercise comes as Hezbollah has acquired and developed precision-guided missiles (PGM) in Lebanon, and it has turned the resistance group to a major existential threat for the Zionist regime.

Hezbollah has an estimated arsenal of about 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at the Israeli home front, along with thousands of operatives. Should war break out, the IDF believes Hezbollah could fire more than 2,000 rockets and missiles a day for at least the first days of fighting. They consist of thousands of short-range missiles or rockets, between hundreds and thousands of medium-range missiles, and dozens of long-range missiles, according to Israel’s Alma research and education center.