Israeli soldiers patrol an area near the northern kibbutz of Kfar Blum close to the border with Lebanon after Hezbollah said its fighters carried out an aerial attack with two drones against an Israeli air defense system site in the border region on January 25, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM - Israel's army announced on Saturday that it was increasing readiness along the Israel-Lebanon border, performing "intensive training exercises" amid cross-border escalation.

The exercises, performed over the past week by the Northern Reservist Paratroopers Brigade, involved live fire and urban warfare, combining tanks, combat engineering, infantry, and artillery forces, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

The aim is "to enhance readiness for combat on the northern border," the statement read, adding that the exercises "prepared troops for combat in densely populated urban areas, winter weather conditions, and in the northern terrain."

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"Despite the winter weather, the rain, the mud, and the fog, and after 113 days of defending the northern border, this week we carried out a series of difficult and complex exercises to strengthen the Brigade's readiness," said Deputy Commander of the 226th Brigade, identified only by his first name, Yehuda.