
The maneuvers started on Wednesday, enlisting thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks as well as helicopters and unmanned aircraft, Xinhua reported on Friday.
The two sides are technically at war due to Israel’s continued occupation of the mountainous region since 1967, when Tel Aviv captured vast expanses of Arab territories during full-scale military offensives.
The drills came amid countrywide anti-regime protests in Egypt. A key ally of Israel, Cairo has helped Tel Aviv keep the Gaza Strip under a tight siege, which has been depriving the coastal sliver’s 1.5-million Palestinians of food, fuel and other necessities since its enforcement in mid-June 2007.
The protests entered their 11th day on Saturday and have been coincidental with anti-government demonstrations in Yemen and Jordan.
The rallies were motivated by Tunisia’s recent revolution, which ended the 23-year-long rule of former President Zine El Abidin Ben Ali.
HN/MGH

February 4, 2011 
































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