TEL AVIV — Israel's military has conducted a multi-service exercise
to test its capability to launch an invasion of the Gaza Strip.
The military's Southern Command launched the exercise on Tuesday that
included representatives of the army, navy and air force. Military sources
said the exercise focused on the ability of the three services to
communicate with each other and share situational awareness.
"This does not mean we're invading Gaza," a military source said.
"That's a political decision. Our job is to be ready for anything."
The exercise consisted largely of simulation of scenarios in a test of
command and control capabilities. The sources said the military has sought
to ensure that army, air force and navy units assigned to the invasion would
be interoperable.
"We are seeking to ensure that any asset employed in such a military
operation would be part of a network that could coordinate with both command
headquarters as well as other assets in the area," the source said.
The exercise allocated specific assets, such as troops, main battle
tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, for a ground invasion. The
ground forces were directed by a multi-service headquarters that included
representatives of the air force and navy.
In April, Southern Command relayed to the Defense Ministry a plan to
rapidly occupy the Gaza Strip and destroy Palestinian missile launching pads
and production facilities. Under the plan, Israel would carve out a buffer
zone of 50 square kilometers in the northern Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz have
opposed an invasion. During the Southern Command exercise, Halutz told the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Commitee that a ground force operation
in the Gaza Strip would not halt Palestinian missile fire into Israel.
"Even if we sit in the middle of Gaza City, there is no certainty that
they won't continue to fire Kassams [missiles] at Israel," Halutz said.
A senior Israeli officer told the Knesset committee that the
Palestinians were steadily improving their military capability amid the
acquisition of weapons and technology from neighboring Egypt. The officer
said Egypt has failed to halt the smuggling of insurgents and weapons from
the Sinai Peninsula and Egyptian territorial waters to the Gaza Strip.
The officer told the Knesset committee that Palestinians have smuggled
1.5 tons of explosives since August 2005. He said the Israeli military has
confirmed the Palestinian deployment of 12 BM-21 Grad rockets in the Gaza
Strip.
