Global Arab Network | Sirens sound across Israel in the biggest-ever defence drill

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Sirens sound across Israel in the biggest-ever defence drill

Israel has put its largest-ever civil defence drill, directing millions of Israelis toward bomb shelters and blast-proof rooms as air raid sirens sound across the country.

Israelis on Tuesday entered a third day of a nearly week-long drill aimed at testing the nation's readiness for a "doomsday" of foreign attacks.

The sirens could be heard from various Lebanese villages close to the border with Israel, including Kfar Kila, Adaisseh, Houla, Markaba and Mais al-Jabal. The Israeli army could be seen from villages in South Lebanon patrolling the border, various side roads and the area around Fatima Gate.

The sirens were part of a five-day operation code-named Turning Point III. The drill includes simulated rocket and missile attacks on Israeli cities, and preparations for an unconventional strike.

Turning Point 3 is also aimed at simulating the conduct of rescue and medical services during earthquakes and epidemics and involves the participation of schools, government ministers and other state institutions.

Despite a month of TV and radio broadcasts aimed at readying the public, not everything went according to plan.

Many Israelis chose to ignore the drill, carrying on with normal life despite the sirens wailing in the background, the Associated Press reported.

In one Tel Aviv neighbourhood, the sirens could not be heard and in the city of Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, a worker struggled to unlock the door of a neighbourhood bomb shelter as two women watched from the sidewalk.

In central Jerusalem, many pedestrians appeared to be ignoring the wailing air-raid sirens.

Schools throughout the country sent pupils to the shelters built into every public building. At a beachfront Tel Aviv hotel, employees were given three minutes to move to the building's shelters but guests were not asked to participate.

The exercise comes at a time when Israel is sounding warnings about the danger of Iran's nuclear program and missile production, despite Iran's insistence that its intentions are peaceful.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon intensified its patrols along the border on Tuesday, while UNIFIL helicopters could be seen hovering in the skies above South Lebanon for most of the day. The Lebanese Army also carried out patrols in border villages.

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, who is in charge of the nationwide exercise, said he brought together foreign ambassadors in Israel on Monday to assure their governments the exercise was defensive in nature and not a preparation for an attack on any of its neighbours.

"The purpose of the siren is to affect the consciousness of the Israeli public," Vilnai said. "Every citizen of the state should know that an emergency drill can take place anytime anywhere, and how they should act."

Israel has staged drills for the last three consecutive years, but this is the first time all members of the public have been asked to enter shelters to practise taking cover.

The national drill aims to simulate simultaneous rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon, as well as missile strikes from Syria and Iran.

It also includes a simulated wave of suicide bombings and tests the way rescue services deal with conventional, chemical and biological strikes against large population centres.

Later in the week, soldiers, emergency crews and civilians will rehearse natural disasters and chemical spills.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Beersheva, where some of the drills were taking place, said there has been criticism from rights groups inside Israel about the exercises.

"They say it is all part of the militarisation of Israeli society and a way to perpetuate the idea of an ongoing war and ongoing fight that Israel is carrying out against the rest of the world," she said.

"This has been subject to a lot of criticism because it in some way justifies Israel's brutal force and the security measures it takes against the Palestinians."

Israel began its national drills in the aftermath of the July-August 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which revealed major weaknesses in how Israel dealt with the rocket attacks on its territory.

This year's drill comes just two weeks after the air force wrapped up a massive four-day exercise that tested its ability to defend against missile and jet strikes from Syria and Iran.

It was the first time the army has simulated strikes from arch-foe Iran, located more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away. (AP, Daily Star, AFP, UPI, Aljazeera)

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