Israeli Army Prepares for Urban Warfare

By Chris Mitchell

CBN News Jerusalem Bureau Chief

March 6, 2008

CBNNews.com - If Hamas doesn't stop firing rockets into Israel, the Israeli government has threatened it might take over the Gaza Strip.

This would require the most dangerous kind of fighting, urban warfare.

You're watching an Israeli Army simulation of urban warfare put on by the IDF.

Click the player to watch CBN News Jerusalem Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell's report and Pat Robertson's comments on how Israel should protect its citizens.

Lt. Dana Markovich of the Israeli Defense Force explained, "The purpose is to simulate the enemy the best way we can in order for our soldiers, our units to train against the most relevant threat we have in the Israeli army right now which is urban war."

The facility these Israeli soldiers train in is the largest and most sophisticated of its kind in the world. Located in the Negev desert, it's designed to prepare israeli soldiers for any kind of scenario.

IDF spokeswoman, Major Avital Leibovich, told reporters, "The point is that we need to train our forces according to different scenarios in different places, casaba, refugee camps, the city."

General Uzi Moskovich, commander, Ground Training Center, added that "We hope to train here special units or special forces."

In the future, the IDF expects other forces -- including U.S. marines -- to use this training facility. For now, the Israeli army is confronted with the challenge of stopping the daily rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Many of those rockets are fired from densely populated areas. To stop the rocket fire will require house-to-house urban fighting.

Gaza's confined communities present a daunting obstacle for the Israeli army and an advantage to Hamas and other Islamic terror groups who often use human shields.

They hope this training facility will help them reduce civilian casualties, protect their own citizens and stop the daily barrage of rockets into Israel itself.

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