Sirens sound as IDF carries out largest civil defense drill ever

[Scurrilous]

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"Israeli schoolchildren and government workers ran for air raid shelters Tuesday, when sirens wailed across the country as part of a nationwide exercise, the largest ever in Israel's history.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak assembled the new National Emergency Authority on Monday as part of the Home Front preparedness exercise being conducted this week throughout the country.

As part of the drill, known as Turning Point 2 (Nekudat Mifne 2), a siren sounded Tuesday at 10:00 A.M. for a minute and a half. There was no alarm sounded for the drill in Sderot and the rest of the communities bordering Gaza.

Before the warning sirens sound, the Home Front Command inaugurated its new broadcast studio in the command's Ramle headquarters with a live TV broadcast on Channel 33 on proper emergency procedures. As the sirens sound, school and nursery school children were taken to the closest shelters, to spend an hour learning about emergency procedures. Government employees will also be expected to man their posts in shelters and protected rooms.

All local authorities were to undertake drills, based on different scenarios provided by the Home Front Command. In the afternoon there will be emergency exercises in Nazareth and the Northern Galilee, to practice rescuing survivors from buildings hit by missiles."

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