"From the moment the political leadership gives the green light, it will take the IDF just minutes to execute an operation in Lebanon," an IDF official told Maariv.
The Northern Command is waiting for the political echelon's green light to act in Lebanon. In the meantime, the IDF continues to update its attack plans. The military has also taken several steps to ensure that once the order is given, the transition to high-intensity combat will be particularly swift.
On October 7, the Northern Command was pleasantly surprised when reserve forces immediately arrived at the emergency warehouses, departed within hours, and deployed to the operational combat zones.
In recent months, the Northern Command and the Technology and Logistics Division have revolutionized all emergency warehouses of the combat units and the front-line support units.
Gear ready and waiting for use
The military's emergency warehouses have been organized so that all combat equipment, including weapons and personal gear (such as vests, fully loaded magazines, and individual specialized equipment), is stored in a designated locker for each soldier. All combat vehicles are already packed and reinforced.
Every unit knows the deployment location for launching the attack and the movement route from the warehouse to where it engages the enemy.
The IDF has drilled the arrival times of all units from the moment they are activated to deployment, and the average times have been reduced to just a few minutes. According to the IDF, the rapid reserve call-up allows for quick readiness based on air force, naval, and ground force capabilities currently stationed in the North.
Additionally, Northern Command and the Air Force are intensifying efforts to weaken Hezbollah's combat capabilities through increased targeted killings and strikes on rocket launchers. According to IDF data, August saw the highest number of Hezbollah operatives eliminated in recent times, with a total of 53 (including one week with at least 20 killed). In July, 33 Hezbollah operatives were killed. In June, 35; in May, 45; and in April, 32.
In the past week alone, the Air Force has conducted over 100 strikes. The IDF has developed a model for targeting Hezbollah’s rocket launchers, and in recent days, dozens of Hezbollah launchers in Lebanon have been destroyed.
In the last 24 hours alone, a large number of launchers were taken out, including those that fired on Kiryat Shmona during the night, as well as several others that were about to launch rockets at Israel.