IDF holds search, rescue drill in south
Home Front Command simulates attack on southern town; troops practice dealing with collapsed buildings
The exercise took place in a large demolition site that posed as an Ashkelon neighborhood and simulated missile attacks on a mall and a nursing home, as well as a car bomb explosion at an underground parking garage.
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Drill at demolition site (Photo: Roee Idan)
Two Home Front Command brigades took part in the training session, practicing cooperation with the police, fire and Maged David Adom forces who were first to respond on the disaster scene. The troops trained on fake victims hysterical residents who arrived in an attempt to locate their loved ones. Bulldozers and cranes were used in the rescue operation
"Working at such destruction sites is sensitive, complex and requires a high level of professionalism," the deputy commander of the Abu Gosh unit, Amaad Jabar. said. "We are using small engineering tools to get those who are trapped out as fast as possible."
IDF officials said that while no buildings collapsed during the Second Lebanon War and in the recent rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, it was important to prepare for such a possibility.
"We realize that we will have to deal with greater challenges, because the enemy's weapon arsenal is bigger," Colonel Yoram Lev-Oren said.
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