Gantz oversees abduction simulation drill
IDF chief, staff inspection teams closely monitor IDF's handling of simultaneous soldier abduction scenario and stabbing attack
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz on Sunday personally inspected a simulation of a high-intensity scenario involving a soldier abduction incident and a terrorist infiltration into an Israeli community.
Held less than a month after the return of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, the "Hannibal" abduction protocol was simulated on a staff level for the first time in years. The drill was meant to examine how Combat Engineering Corps forces handle a soldier abduction on short notice.
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General Staff inspection crews arrived at a checkpoint in the Jordan Rift Valley region at around 7 am on Sunday. The IDF force at the checkpoint was instructed to "play along" with the kidnappers to test the soldiers' response to an abduction already underway.
_wa.jpg "ביקורת פתע קודמת של הרמטכ\"ל (צילום: דובר צה\"ל)")
Gantz with troops in previous surprise drill (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
A soldier in the role of the captive was taken on a vehicle moving towards Nablus. At the same time, forces deployed in the region received a report about a terrorist infiltration into a community adjacent to the checkpoint suggesting a terrorist had started stabbing residents – similar to the Itamar massacre last March.
The drill also took into account the possibility that the terror cell switched vehicles en route to Nablus.
Extensive forces were called in during the drill, including fighter jets and elite IDF units. Gantz himself closely inspected the activity in the checkpoint area and the sector at large to test the commanders' response.
Inspection Department head Col. Shlomi Fayer who oversaw the exercise said it was also meant to check the reassigning of responsibility from the Rift Valley Brigade, where the abduction occured, to the Samaria Brigade, where the kidnappers were heading.
The drill also sought to examine how combatants were affected by their reintroduction to abduction protocol in light of recent alerts. "According to procedure, the forces are meant to thwart abduction at all cost. We simulated IAF fire at the abductors' vehicle with the primary aim of indentifying it from the air," Fayer said.
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