Israel prepares civilians for threat of 230,000 enemy rockets
According to latest Home Front Command assessments, 1% of incoming enemy rockets would score direct hits on buildings in Israel.
By YAAKOV LAPPINUpdated: SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 23:44Hezbollah members carry mock rockets next to a poster of the group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah [FIle](photo credit: REUTERS)
The IDF Home Front Command is preparing for the possibility that Hezbollah will fire thousands of missiles from Lebanon into Israel during the next war.A national war drill will be held from Sunday to Wednesday, including a nationwide air raid siren at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday.The goal of the exercise is to train civilians how to quickly enter “safe zones” in homes and workplaces, in the event of a mass rocket attack.According to assessments by the Home Front Command, in any multi-front conflict, some 95% of enemy rockets would be light-weight and have ranges less than 40 km., and 1% of all incoming projectiles would score direct hits on buildings.A mass rocket attack in a war on multiple fronts would be expected to cause mass disruption and perhaps hundreds of casualties. The Home Front Command has been working with emergency services, government ministries and local authorities to prepare for such a scenario.The preparations do not reflect an assessment that a conflict is imminent, but rather, standard Home Front Command work during routine times. Keeping basic services running under fire is a central goal of the command.Israel’s enemies collectively have some 230,000 projectiles, more than half of which are in Hezbollah’s arsenal in Lebanon.In any full-scale war, Hezbollah could fire 1,500 rockets per day, and target central Israel with dozens of long-range rockets per day. The large majority of those would strike open areas, according to assessments.The Home Front Command’s preparations are taking into account the fact that Hezbollah is seeking to obtain more and more precision-guided rockets.In any conflict, cross-border infiltrations by Hezbollah and Hamas would pose significant challenge to the home front, the army says.
The Home Front Command recently increased the number of areas within the country that could receive rocket alerts from 265 to 3,000, greatly increasing the system’s accuracy.In recent weeks, the command held a drill in which it practiced summoning reservist search and rescue personnel to mock destruction zones.In the event of conflict with Hezbollah, of the 750,000 Israelis who might leave their homes in the North, the state would be able to house some 95,000 of them in hotels and kibbutz homes.Regarding chemical weapons, assessments in the Home Front Command are that the strategic threat has decreased greatly since the Assad regime disbanded its program, but the tactical, pinpoint threat that ISIS will use chemical weapons near the Golan border will increase as time goes on.As a result, the Home Front Command continues to maintain gas mask production lines, enabling the manufacture of protection kits at a moment’s notice.