Troops in the Israel Defense Forces completed a large-scale exercise last week in the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon summit that simulated a defensive response to an Oct. 7-style attack from Syria.
Troops from the 210th Division took part, including the 810th, 474th and 3rd Brigades. The exercise was led by the Ground Forces Training Center.
As part of the exercise, troops in both mandatory and reserve service were called up and exercised transitioning from routine to a state of emergency, responding to extreme scenarios that included defending communities, engaging in combat at military posts, and other offensive actions, an IDF statement said.
Medical Corps troops simulated the evacuation of hundreds of injured individuals by land and air from combat zones and communities. Israel Air Force helicopters transported troops, evacuated the injured and supplied fire support in direct coordination with the division’s troops.
The exercise was conducted in cooperation with the local authorities, the communities’ defense departments, the Israel Fire and Rescue Services, Magen David Adom and other security entities, the statement said.
Reporting on the massive exercise, the Ynet news outlet noted that tens of thousands of terrorists operate from Iranian-backed organizations across Syria and Iraq. They can reach the Golan Heights in a few hours.
The exercise examined whether the defense deployment in the area could hold out and delay the invasion until more forces arrived.
The exercise also evaluated the importance of nine new company outposts established by the IDF near the border in Syrian territory. Hundreds of soldiers are stationed at these outposts.
The new regime in Syria is demanding that the IDF withdraw from them as a condition for renewing the ceasefire that existed from 1975 until the fall of the Assad regime.
The question IDF Northern Command examined was whether soldiers in those outposts would gain valuable time for the IDF in the event of an invasion from the north.
The answer was unequivocal, Ynet reported.
“The forces in the new outposts in Syrian territory give us a few hours to deploy forces and alert squads of the settlements, to strengthen the defense of the border fence, and to add more and more aerial vehicles to thwart the invasion,” senior IDF officers said, according to the report.
