For several hours on Sunday afternoon, residents of northern Israel were unsure of what caused the heavy traffic of Israeli Air Force fighter jets in the sky above them.
One resident of northern Israel, who noticed the large quantity of fighter jets zooming above her home, told Israel National News she assumed they were on their way to carry out another airstrike in Syrian territory.
Only after approximately two hours, during which many residents panicked due to the aircraft, the IDF revealed that it had launched an exercise in the north of the country. In an announcement posted on the IDF Twitter page, the military stated, “As part of the exercise, movement of aircraft will be felt in the area.” The IDF added that the exercise was planned at the beginning of 2023.
This is not the first time the IDF failed to notify civilians of an exercise and only did so after it caused public panic. Earlier this month, residents of southern Israel were shocked when a loud explosion was heard near Kiryat Gat, and a mushroom cloud appeared in the area.
Many residents reported hearing the explosion and seeing the resulting plume, which could be seen as far away as Netivot.
“There was an explosion, I heard it from the house. Such a loud explosion, we didn’t understand what happened,” one resident said.
Only after many worried civilians expressed their concerns on social media the IDF released a statement revealing that the explosion was a preplanned controlled ammunition explosion and there is no risk of a security incident.
After the incident, the IDF pledged to take steps to notify the public ahead of such exercises, but as stated above, again failed to do so.