A military exercise began Sunday to improve the army’s operational readiness in case of conflict with Gaza, the IDF said.

The exercise comes against the backdrop of increased tensions in Israel’s south during the past week.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi is overseeing the drill. IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir is supervising the maneuvers on the ground.

The drill is a routine exercise that is part of the IDF’s annual training program. It aims to examine the Gaza Division’s ability to deal with various scenarios while maintaining multi-organizational cooperation with other IDF units.

Israel Police said that due to the drill, increased movement by security forces and vehicles will be seen in the area.

The military stressed that the drill follows the Health Ministry’s directives for preventing the spread of the coronavirus to maintain the participants’ health.

(Israel Hayom).