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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| IDF exercise simulates invasion of West Bank: 'We have many lessons to learn from October 7' |
| 2025-11-12 |
| [Ynet] The IDF announced Wednesday that it has completed a large-scale multi-branch exercise named "Lion's Roar" in the West Bank, involving the Judea and Samaria Division and the newly established Gilead 96th Division. This was the first exercise of its kind in which two divisions operated together, aiming to strengthen operational coordination and joint capabilities in the sector. The drill involved about 180 aircraft and simulated more than 40 extreme scenarios, including attacks on outposts, simultaneous infiltrations by terrorists into multiple communities, combat in dense urban areas, mass casualty rescue and medical evacuation, response to multi-casualty incidents, intelligence integration, and combat-time command and control. The exercise was conducted in cooperation with ground forces, the Air Force, and internal security units. Participants included Central Command forces, the Air Force, the Operations Directorate, Military Intelligence, the Shin Bet, the Civil Administration, the IDF's enemy simulation unit, command-level communications units, the Technology and Logistics Directorate, Magen David Adom, and the Israel Police. Concurrently, updated operational defense and activation plans for Central Command were reviewed. The scenarios were shaped by lessons learned from the October 7 attacks, emphasizing rapid target strikes during the "golden hour," the deployment of special forces, and the full mobilization of the IDF system. One of the drills simulated large numbers of terrorists invading from the Jordanian border, launching killing and kidnapping sprees in Judea and Samaria. The exercise included terrorists using powered parachutes to drop explosives, alongside responses to a collapsed building in Ariel and burned vehicles, with close air support from fighter jets and helicopters. The IDF stressed a particular focus on real-time operational connectivity and situational awareness—key conclusions from the Hamas assault. To that end, the Air Force expanded its control centers and added air reconnaissance officers from local communities to improve coordination between air and ground forces. A broad target bank was prepared for immediate strikes even under uncertain conditions, and new response protocols were set for troops deployed in the field. |
| Posted by:Grom the Affective |