Israel Prepares as Syria War Nears Border
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/world/middleeast/syrian-rebels-golan-heights.html
As that was playing out, Israel continued to plan intensively for a third war in Lebanon, where it believes Hezbollah has amassed 60,000 rockets aimed in its direction. Military leaders say that they have learned the lessons of their 34-day battle with Hezbollah in 2006, and that the next round will be short, deadly and urban: one top general recently described Lebanese homes as having “a living room and a missile room” right next to each other.
That is why the army built a mock Lebanese village here at the Elyakim base, complete with three fortified underground tunnels, similar to what Hezbollah uses to store supplies.
On Thursday morning, a battalion of reservists culminated a five-day exercise by storming the village with gunfire, grenades and eventually a trio of tanks that rolled through its hills. Eight enlisted men in American-made camouflage uniforms mimicking those worn by Hezbollah in 2006 played the enemy.