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Home News Defense & Security

IDF training center takes urban warfare to next level

The dense network of buildings and narrow streets simulating fighting on the ground in Hamas-controlled territory has earned the moniker "Mini Gaza."

by  AP and ILH Staff
Published on  06-23-2022 09:11
Last modified: 07-03-2022 14:55
IDF training center takes urban warfare to next levelAP/Oded Balilty

Israeli soldiers are seen trough a broken window of a guarding post during an urban warfare exercise in southern Israel, Jan. 4, 2022 | File photo: AP/Oded Balilty

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The Muslim call to prayer echoes through a remote town in southern Israel that has known only war.

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Its 500 buildings, the tallest eight stories high, are deserted. Its narrow alleys are adorned with militant murals and posters honoring slain Palestinian fighters. It cannot be found on any map.

Officially, it's known as the Urban Warfare Training Center. The Israeli soldiers who run military drills here call it "Mini Gaza."

The military began building the $45 million facility in the Ze'elim Base in 2005, toward the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli rule. Over the previous five years, Israeli troops had battled Palestinian militants in cities and towns across the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

 

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Israeli soldiers gather during an urban warfare exercise at an army training facility, in Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Jan. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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An Israeli soldier pretending to be dead Palestinian militant lies on the ground during a training session simulating urban warfare at the Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Jan. 4, 2022. (AP/Oded Balilty)

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Israeli soldiers climb on a wall as they conduct a mock assault during an urban warfare exercise at an army training facility, in Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Jan. 24, 2022. (AP/Oded Balilty)

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Israeli soldiers take positions during a training session simulating urban warfare at the Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Jan. 4, 2022 (AP/Oded Balilty)

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Israeli soldiers participate in a training session simulating urban warfare at the Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Jan. 4, 2022 (AP/Oded Balilty)

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An Israeli soldier take position during an urban warfare exercise at an army training facility at the Zeelim army base, southern Israel, May 25, 2022 (AP/Oded Balilty)

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Two M-16 rifles hanging on a wall with a graffiti featuring the Palestinian flag at the IDF Urban Warfare Training Center at the Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP/Oded Balilty)

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Israeli soldiers climb on a wall as they assault a complex during an urban warfare exercise at an army training facility at the Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Jan. 24, 2022 (AP/Oded Balilty)

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Israeli soldiers carry supplies at the end of an urban warfare exercise session at an army training facility at the Zeelim army base, southern Israel, Feb. 10, 2022 (AP/Oded Balilty)

Israeli soldiers during an urban warfare exercise at the "Mini Gaza" are if the urban warfare training center on Ze'elim Base, Jan. 4, 2022. (AP/Oded Balilty/File)

Since then, Israel has fought four wars in Gaza against Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the coastal enclave, with some battles erupting in densely populated cities and refugee camps. Each military campaign has seen Israel accused of using disproportionate force in crowded residential areas, contributing to the civilian death toll on the Palestinian side. The military says it makes every effort to spare civilians while accusing Palestinian militants of using them as human shields.

The reports castigating Israel for its use of force rarely mention the fact that Gaza terrorists fire thousands of rockets on south and central Israel.

"The nature of war has changed," said Col. Eli Abeles, the facility's commander. "Today our principal fighting ... is done around built-up areas and in built-up areas."

The tight alleyways, drab concrete buildings and open areas in the roughly 60-acre (quarter square kilometer) facility are meant to simulate the urban environments in which Israel's soldiers often operate. These can include Gaza and the West Bank, as well as southern Lebanon, where Israel has warned potential future fighting with Hezbollah militants would likely take place.

The army's sole official graffiti artist decorates the streets with murals featuring Arabic slogans and portraits of Palestinian and Lebanese militants.

Between exercises, soldiers rest in the shade of the buildings, smoking cigarettes beneath the faded posters, some of which honor those killed in battle with Israel. Others don red-and-white checkered scarves to role-play militants in an upcoming drill.

The training center can accommodate exercises for an entire brigade of 2,000 soldiers at a single time, Abeles said. Visiting American troops and forces from European allies – most recently Cypriot soldiers – have also trained in Mini Gaza.

But when the guns fall silent and the soldiers withdraw, the training center reverts to a ghost town, the wind howling through empty rooms and creaking metal.

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