Airstrike sirens were to sound in cities and towns across the country on Wednesday, as part of a national home front preparatory exercise organized by Israel’s defense forces and the Defense Ministry, the military said.
The first round of alerts, in addition to sirens, were set to be heard in towns and villages, from 10:05 am to 10:45 am, and in the second round from 6:05 pm to 6:45 pm in major cities . Messages were to be sent through the IDF Home Front Command application and alerts were to be heard on radio, television and some websites.
The military said the air strike sirens would sound twice in case of a real emergency.
The air strike exercise is part of a larger nationwide exercise that aims to wage a full-scale war with the Hezbollah terrorist group.
The siren is being tested specifically in light of adjustments made to the country’s alert system in recent months. Due to better intelligence and more accurate detection systems, some cities and towns have received new alert times – how long residents of those areas have to enter a bomb shelter before they take effect. Some are divided into multiple warning zones, meaning that people in one part of the city may not be required to enter a bomb shelter, while people in another do. The IDF Home Front Command said the exercise would mostly focus on these municipalities.
The alert exercise will begin at 10:05 am in the cities of Kafar Kama, Kiryat Yam, and Kiryat Ata and Carmel Industrial Park. Ten minutes later, Aker, Yavniel, Carmeel, Shefaram, Migdal and Kiryat Bialik will sound the sirens in the cities. Ten minutes after that, sirens will sound in the towns of Omar and Lakia, whose warning times have been shortened to one minute. At 10:35 a.m., sirens will sound in Haoan, Tel Katzir, Magan, Shar Golan, Masade, Kineret College and Tzemach Industrial Area, with the warning time extended to 30 seconds. Finally, at 10:45 a.m., Geshur, Naot Golan, Givat Yov-bane Yehuda, Kefer Haruw, Mewo Hama, Hamat Gadar, Gaetan, Yehiam, Evron, Amir, Kfar Sold, Lehvat Habshan, Gonen will sound the siren. Shamir and Kefer Vardim, all of whose warning times have been shortened to 15 seconds.
Sirens will sound in the Jerusalem-North, Ashkelon-North, Ramat Gan-West, Hadera-West and Palmachim industrial zones at 6:05 pm. Ten minutes later, they will sound in Jerusalem-East, Jerusalem-Kafr Aqab, Ashkelon-South, Herzliya-Center, Galil Yam, Rishon Lezion-East and Hadera-Neve Ham. Ten minutes after that, they will sound at Jerusalem-Center, Ashkelon Industrial Zone-North, Rishon Legion-West, Hadera-Centre. At 6:35 pm, they will sound in Jerusalem-West, Ashkelon Industrial Area-South, Herzliya-West and Netanya-West. Finally, at 6:45 pm, they will sound at Jerusalem-South, Atarot Industrial Area, Ramat Gan-East, Netanya-East and Hadera-East.
The nationwide preparedness exercise will visualize the consequences of massive rocket and missile barrages in Israel, based on actual military intelligence predictions, including chemical weapons attacks, direct hits on toxic chemical storage facilities within Israel, overwhelmed hospitals and nationwide power outages.
“We have a document that we can refer to what a multi-front war would look like in terms of its scope and importance. So our scenario gives us a degree of accuracy about the likely events and how we can guide and guide the exercises. can refine so that it can be really effective,” Yoram Laredo, director of the National Emergency Management Authority of the Ministry of Defense, told reporters before the exercise.
All government offices and emergency services will participate in the exercise, including the Israel Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Magen David Adom Ambulance Service and others.
