Prensa Latina
Israeli troops began military exercises this morning without notice, in the north of the Golan Heights, which is occupied Syrian territory, an official spokesman announced in Tel Aviv.
The troops, added to the Northern and Central commands, were mobilized without notice by order of the Chief of Staff of the Tsahal (Israeli Defence Forces) by General Benny Gantz, according to information released by military radio and press outlets.
The IDF insists the drill is a routine scheduled event, but for unknown reasons withheld from making public how many troops and what military vehicles are being involved in the war games.
In the war games, which put Israeli troops at geographical borders with Syria, there were units of the air force and artillery participating in the campaign, reactivated "to examine their readiness for combat," according to the communication.
On Thursday, the deadline for the maneuvers, live ammunition will be used for the war games, said the notice.
Several days ago, the Israeli army completed similar exercises on the basiss of alleged circumstances that would necessitate supplying troops in the middle of a theater of operations, it recalled.
The operation, described as "routine" by the Israeli command, coincides with announcements by Syrian military sources regarding the evacuation of areas near Damascus by armed groups that attempt to overthrow the government of President Bashar Al-Assad by force.
Israel refrained until now to act openly in the attacks against the government of Syria, a country at the forefront of the Arab-Israeli conflict that has no peace agreement with Tel Aviv, unlike Egypt and Jordan.
The IDF began reinforcing the fence on the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights area. Military engineers implanted new motion sensors along the border, electrified parts of the fence to activate new alarm systems and planted mines in certain areas along the border.
Translated from the Portuguese version by:
Lisa Karpova
Pravda.Ru