TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – About 30,000 Israeli soldiers have been deployed to the northern part of the country in order to participate in drills, which are being considered the largest military exercises in the past 19 years, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Wednesday.
"About 30,000 servicemen have been deployed. [The troops] are practicing a scenario, in which Hezbollah militants seize an Israeli settlement near the border with Lebanon and local clashes transform into full-scale hostilities," Liberman wrote on his Facebook page.
The minister pointed out that the drills would significantly contribute to preparations for a potential war in northern Israel.
"The only thing that can stop the war is the power of the Israel Defense Forces and the deterrent power," Lieberman said.
The 11-day drills kicked off on September 5.
Hezbollah is a Lebanon-based Shiite movement founded in 1980s and engaged in several military conflicts with Israel, which has repeatedly struck areas in Syria, where the group's fighters were present.
