TEL HASHOMER, Israel, March 14 (UPI) -- Israel's army has stepped up its training exercises, Military Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Wednesday.
Addressing new recruits earmarked for a brigade that polices the West Bank, Ashkenazi noted that whenever Israeli soldiers encountered Hezbollah, during the last Lebanon war, the Israelis won.
"We had problems but not problems of fighting units," he said clearly indicating the difficulties were at the command level.
"We significantly increased the amount of training," he added, and said he expects to complete the standing army's maneuvers "this year."
The move is not just a reaction to the shortcomings that surfaced during last year's month long war in Lebanon, however, but also a realization that Palestinian buildup in the Gaza Strip might lead to hostilities.
Gazan militants have been firing 50 to 60 rockets a month, smuggled in 30 tons of TNT in the past year, have been building military formations, and sending men to train in Syria and possibly Iran, the head of the Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant last week told diplomats and foreign correspondents. Palestinians are suspected of digging tunnels towards Israel, but Galant said most nations do not know how to detect tunnels dug at depths of 20 meters.
A Yediot Aharonot reporter who accompanied Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Gaza's border, Tuesday, said that after a day's visit, briefings and presentation of plans, "It seemed as though the question left open relates to the date the army will be sent to battle and the scope of the next campaign."
