Vulnerabilities in IOF readiness surface during Hezbollah-war drills

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli Media
11 Dec 2022 20:08
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Israeli media channel reveals that medical supplies in reserve army brigades face massive shortages hindering readingess for war

Israeli soldiers evacuate their wounded at an IOF deployment area near Gaza (Jack Guez/AFP)

An Israeli news site reported on Saturday that the Israeli occupation forces launched a massive snap maneuver simulating the outbreak of war against Hezbollah in the north with the participation of more than ten thousand soldiers.

The Israeli occupation military said that the sudden drills, named Hot Winter 2, intend to “strengthen the readiness” of military sections in case of “sudden events and various scenarios in the northern arena,” referring to Hezbollah.

Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth website stated that "thousands of the participating soldiers are in the reserve forces and were suddenly called up by an exceptional order to their units."

The site revealed that "behind the scenes, it became clear that there is great concern within the army [IOF], especially in the medical corps, due to the huge gaps in the units' eligibility for war, especially in the medical equipment allocated to the forces that will operate in the next confrontation."

Sources in the military told the media outlet, "There is a significant medical equipment shortage in some of the regular brigades and among the reserve forces, the shortage reaches 50% - 60% of what is required."

The source added: "In the army's emergency medical depots, a shortage of a range of supplies was felt last year: needles, bandages, field surgical tools, anesthesia, and more," noting that, "10 percent of the emergency medical equipment has already expired."

“During the exercise, forces will practice dealing with being deployed suddenly amid operational scenarios in the northern arena, with an emphasis on the readiness of the logistics forces and cooperation between the ground units.”

The Israeli occupation forces admit that there are loopholes in this regard, but claim that "this matter is now being felt more in the reserve brigades."

The huge gaps that have accumulated in the medical capacity of the brigades for the war have led to "the transfer of medical equipment from one unit to another, according to the operational order of priority when entering the fighting beyond the borders."

The Israeli media outlet stated that, because of the seriousness of this matter on the readiness of the army, the matter turned into “a basic topic in the daily conversation of senior commanders of the General Staff, including the Deputy Chief of Staff and the Chief of Staff, and they received evidence and data about the medical companies in the maneuvering brigades, which will emerge 'helpless' in case a war breaks out soon."

Earlier in December, Israeli media revealed that the qualifications of the Israeli occupation's ground forces and its preparedness are diminishing very quickly when 2023 will be a year full of challenges.

"A large part of the ground forces of the Israeli army is being invested in the West Bank as part of the ongoing security missions," said the report.

The news site added that, "this is at the expense of the training they did not undergo," noting that, "This is dealing a direct blow to the readiness of the military to go to war, whether with Lebanon or other parties."

"In case of an escalation and a multi-front war, the Israeli army might not be ready, such as what happened in Lebanon in 2006."