IDF simulates soldier abduction, terrorist infiltration scenarios in Jordan Valley amid growing threats of possible kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.
By YAAKOV KATZIDF soldiers in desert exercise 311(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Just weeks after releasing Gilad Schalit in a prisoner swap with Hamas and fearing future abductions of soldiers, the IDF held a largescale exercise in the Jordan Valley to prepare a response to the potential kidnapping of a soldier.Chief of General Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz oversaw the drill, which took place throughout the Jordan Valley with the purpose of reviewing the readiness of Division 162, which is stationed along the border.RELATED:IDF continues to train for war with Hezbollah'Hamas refuses to abandon policy of IDF kidnappings''Hamas planning to kidnap more Israeli soldiers'The scenario included a soldier being abducted by Palestinian terrorists and moved between a number of vehicles as well as a number of villages in the Jordan Valley area. On the sidelines of the kidnapping, the scenario included a terrorist infiltration into an Israeli settlement in the area.IDF sources said the drill was part of the military’s annual exercise regimen and was aimed at preparing the soldiers for the wide range of scenarios they could encounter during deployments in the West Bank.“This is the first type of drill at the General Staff level in a number of years and is a result of warnings and alerts that we have about plans to kidnap soldiers,” explained Col. Shlomi Fayer, from the IDF Ground Forces Command.
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