The exercise, led by Army Inspector Brigadier General (Reserve) Ofer Srug, with the participation of a team of regular and reserve inspectors, includes training for unexpected scenarios in various combat arenas, according to a statement from Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier stated that “Israel intends to impose its control over the entire Gaza Strip to provide a secure perimeter and then transfer half of the sector to the control of a new civilian government.” Netanyahu added that “Israel does not intend to retain its control over the Gaza Strip,” and that the objective of the operation is limited to establishing a “secure perimeter.”
For its part, the Palestinian Hamas movement, in a statement issued last Friday, considered that “the Israeli Cabinet’s decision to occupy Gaza and evacuate its residents is a new war crime,” viewing the decision as “explaining Israel’s sudden withdrawal from the last round of negotiations.”
Israel resumed its bombing of the Gaza Strip on March 18th, after a pause of nearly two months, specifically since the ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect on January 19th, following the failure of negotiations to extend the first phase of the agreement or move to its second phase.
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was supposed to continue once the first phase ended on March 1st, or enter its second phase, but disagreements between Israel and Hamas regarding the next steps prevented this.
