TEL AVIV — Israel's military plans to renew its urban warfare
center.
Officials said the Ground Forces Command plans to resume operations of
its urban warfare training center in northern Israel. They said the center,
closed in 2000, would be reopened and adopt lessons learned during the war
with Hizbullah in the summer of 2006, Middle East Newsline reported.
"There is a need to intensify urban and guerrilla warfare techniques,
particularly against Hizbullah," an official said. "This is a priority for
the army."
The military weekly Bamahane reported that soldiers at the center would
utilize paintball in practicing urban warfare. The magazine said the former
training facility at Elyakim in northern Israel would be reopened after an
absence of six years.
The new center would also teach soldiers how to detect and target
Hizbullah bunkers in southern Lebanon. Bamahane also cited plans to
establish courses in camouflage techniques and global positioning system
navigation.
"Our goal is to establish a cycle, so that within two years officers
would receive extensive training and soldiers some training," Lt. Col. Lior
Lifshitz, commander of the Elyakim base, said.
Lifschitz told Bamahane that the military plans to construct a paintball
course at Elyakim. He said the center would send instructors to all bases in
northern Israel.
Bamahane said the new center would be operational within several months.
The weekly said the urban warfare facility would supply special equipment to
counter-insurgency units.
