IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi reportedly told commanders on Sunday that the military is gearing up to be on heightened alert for a month or more, following several recent attacks and the start of Ramadan.
Kohavi made the remarks in Tel Aviv, where he was visiting soldiers sent to reinforce police, Channel 13 news reported.
According to the report, Kohavi told the commanders they should be ready for a second “Operation Guardian of the Walls,” referring to the 11 days of fighting last year between Israel and the Hamas terror group, and accompanying violence in ethnically mixed Israeli cities.
He also reportedly said that Palestinian Islamic Jihad could fire rockets from the Gaza Strip, after three of the terror group’s operatives were killed in a shootout with security forces in the West Bank, while allegedly headed to carry out an attack in Israel, in the predawn hours of Saturday
A series of recent terror attacks killed 11 people in Israel, putting security forces on heightened alert.
The escalation has come as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins — often a period of high tension in Israel and the West Bank.
Israel has ramped up security measures in response to the attacks and deployed additional forces to the West Bank, Gaza border and major cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel was entering a period of “vigilant routine” as security forces work to prevent further terror attacks.
“Terrorists have all kinds of ideas, so we are on high alert, both the Shin Bet and the Israel Police, to identify any hint of an idea or plan for an attack, and thwart it in advance,” he said during a visit to the Shin Bet security service’s regional command in the northern West Bank.
