In north, IDF drills for urban warfare as health system preps for attack scenarios

The IDF said Saturday it was further increasing its preparedness on the northern border, publishing footage from recent “intensive” training exercises carried out by the 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, as Hezbollah-led forces in Lebanon continue to launch attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the border.

With fears of a wider conflict growing, the health system in the country’s north was also practicing for potential major security incidents in a broad drill.

In a statement, the IDF said, “As part of the process of increasing readiness on the northern border, the Northern Command held intensive training sessions last week to strengthen competence and readiness for the moment of decision.”

The 226th Brigade, under the 146th Division, with combat engineers, tanks, artillery and other infantry forces, carried out drills simulating fighting in urban areas that are applicable to Lebanon, amid winter weather, according to the IDF.

Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre, the IDF said it has carried out more than 100 days’ worth of drills, including 40 battalion-level exercises. READ MORE