Israel’s military said today it has stepped up defense measures against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip and heightened tensions with Iran following the attack on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus and Iranian threats.
The army has decided to temporarily suspend the licenses of combat units, jam the GPS signal in some places and boost readiness after nearly six months of war in Gaza against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
“The Israeli military is at war and the issue of deployment of forces is constantly reviewed based on needs,” the military said in announcing the suspension of the permits.
After an assessment of the situation, the military also said, it was decided to increase the number of troops and call up reservists for the air defense network.
The Iranian threats are visible
Israeli media reported that the army is also recalling more reservists amid visible threats from Iran.
The spokesman for the Israeli armed forces, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, clarified that the jamming of the GPS signal is aimed at defending the country from guided weapons, such as rockets or drones.
“We have strengthened the readiness of combat units, where necessary,” Hagari said. “We have strengthened the defense systems and have prepared aircraft for the defense, ready to attack based on various scenarios,” he added.
These announcements are made after the strikes attributed to Israel which destroyed on Monday 01/04 the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing 16 people including seven members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic .
Iran blamed Israel, which has not confirmed responsibility, and vowed to respond. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that Israel would be dealt a heavy blow for this attack.
33,000 dead in Gaza
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, which broke out after the unprecedented attack of Hamas on Israel on October 7, on the northern front (Lebanon, Syria) hostilities have increased with rocket launches and artillery fire.
Israel and the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, engage in daily exchanges of fire along the border of the two countries.
The October 7 attack left 1,170 people dead on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
In retaliation, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have already killed more than 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.
Source: RES-MPE
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