Israel just launched its biggest war game in 20 years along Lebanese border

Amid rising tensions on Israel's northern border, the IDF is launching its largest drill in close to 20 years, with tens of thousands of soldiers from all branches of the army, simulating a war with Hezbollah.

The drill, dubbed "Or Hadagan" (Hebrew for "the Light of the Grain"), will start on Sept. 5 and end on Sept. 14, The Times of Israel reported. Named after Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad, the exercise will see thousands of soldiers and reservists and all the different branches of the IDF - air force, navy, ground forces, intelligence, cyber - drilling the ability of all branches to coordinate their operations during wartime.

According to military assessments, the northern border remains the most explosive, and both sides have warned that the next conflict would be devastating for the other.

While the primary threat posed by Hezbollah remains its missile arsenal, the IDF believes that the next war will see the group trying to bring the fight into Israel by infiltrating Israeli communities to inflict significant civilian and military casualties.

The ten-day drill will focus on countering Hezbollah's increased capabilities, and also include simulations of evacuating communities close to the border with Lebanon, The Jerusalem Post reports.

Israel last held an exercise of such magnitude in 1998, a drill that simulated a war with Syria and was led by Meir Dagan.

"The purpose of the drill is to test the fitness of the Northern Command and the relevant battalions during an emergency," a senior IDF officer told Haaretz. In the drill scenario, the cabinet tells the armed forces to vanquish Hezbollah - "as I understand it, the state in which Hezbollah either has no ability or desire to attack anymore," said the officer.