Israel conducts largest ever civil defence drill

Sirens wailed across Israel twice yesterday as the country held its largest ever civil defence drill, simulating large-scale missile attacks from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, including the use of chemical warheads.

Citizens were supposed to find their nearest bomb shelter or secure area, such as underground car parks, and stay there for 10 minutes when the sirens sounded at 12.30 and 7.05pm. However, many people ignored the exercise and continued with their daily routine.

The exercise came after recent tension on the Syrian border brought closer the danger of missile attacks on Israeli population centres.

'Any contingency'
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said it was difficult to attain full protection but the government was investing huge amounts on civil defence.

“The threat to the Israeli home front has grown substantially over recent years. Israel is the country most threatened in the world by missiles and rockets, and we shall prepare ourselves for any contingency.”

The week-long exercise, named “Resilient Home Front 1”, is designed to simulate missile attacks all over Israel as part of a mock total war, focusing on the greater Tel Aviv metropolis and areas of strategic importance.

The exercise is testing response teams and emergency services in various simulated scenarios throughout the week.

An entire network of early warning systems is being tested and civilians also received alerts from mobile phones, social networks, television and radio.

Defence experts estimate that Syria, Iran, Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza collectively possess some 200,000 projectiles.

Home front commander Maj Gen Eyal Eisenberg said the outbreak of a war in which Israel would be hit with a "large volume of rocket fire" was a certainty.

“Our opponents hold long-range missiles with large warheads,” he said.

Home front defence minister Gilad Erdan warned that rockets raining down on densely populated areas in Israel "is only a matter of time" and could happen at any moment.

He highlighted the threat posed to Israel by the stockpiles of non-conventional weapons held by Iran and Syria, saying the battles being fought no longer distinguish between the front line and the home front, as missiles and rockets allow strikes far from the battlefield.

Israeli jets reportedly struck sites near Damascus twice earlier this month targeting missiles destined for Hizbullah in Lebanon.