IOF simulating widescale strike on Iran nuclear facilities
The Israeli occupation forces are conducting drills over the Mediterranean that simulate air raids on Iran and its nuclear facilities, not to mention strikes on Lebanon.
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Two Israeli and one American F-16 fighter jets fly alongside one another during a joint exercise in southern occupied Palestine in January 2022
The Air Force of the Israeli occupation forces conducted military exercises over the Mediterranean Sea overnight on Tuesday that simulated attacks and airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The drill, an official statement by the IOF read, included "long-range flight, aerial refueling, and striking distant targets."
The aerial maneuvers come as part of ongoing so-called "Chariots of Fire" exercises, the largest military drill in its history in occupied Palestine, which "Tel Aviv" is conducting as the region undergoes soaring tensions.
Israeli media reports earlier indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had pushed for a "desirable offensive operation in the Gaza Strip," while Security Minister Benny Gantz, the IOF, and the Shin Bet pushed for attacks on the occupied West Bank.
Israeli occupation Prime Minister Naftali Bennett discussed with his advisers the possibility of an early election.
The drills prompted the Lebanese resistance, Hezbollah, to state that it would be hiking its mobilization and calling on its freedom fighters to be prepared to confront the enemy.
All the branches of the IOF are participating in the drills, and they were launched as the world grows uncertain about whether Iran would return to the 2015 nuclear deal amid growing stubbornness from the United States about the terms of the accord.
Iran and world powers are holding talks in the Austrian capital, the Vienna talks, to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement and return the United States to it following Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, who accompanied his decision with the imposition of harsh sanctions on Tehran.
In addition to needing innovative ways to strike the Iranian nuclear facilities, which would require specialized munitions and tactics, the Israeli occupation Air Force needs to find ways to deal with the highly and increasingly sophisticated Iranian air defenses to conduct strikes of this kind, Israeli media reported.
Israeli security officials cited by Israeli media say the IOF's plans could be ready within a short period of time or could take years to be used on the battlefield.
The Israeli occupation has been conducting drills over the Mediterranean with the permission of the Cypriot authorities, which saw Lebanon objecting over "Tel Aviv" carrying out drills off its coast.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib received Cypriot Panayiotis Kyriacou to ask for clarifications over the joint military exercises with the Israeli occupation, and the diplomat affirmed that the Israeli exercises were aimed at training the border guard to defend the island.
The response came after Israeli media reported that the exercises are targeted at Lebanon and sparked anger in Beirut, but it seems that despite Cyprus assuring Lebanon that the joint drills are not aimed at the nation, Israeli media is still saying that exercises over the Mediterranean "aim to simulate fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon."
Additionally, the IOF said the exercises would be carried out in various terrains, including urban and rural areas in mountainous terrain that resemble Lebanon.
