Israel to prepare for potential missile attack

Israel will launch a public awareness campaign in the coming days, focused on telling people what to do in the event of missile attacks, the army said Wednesday.

Citing "lessons learned" from the 2006 Lebanon war, in which the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militia fired more than 4,000 rockets at northern Israel, the army said it is now focused on preparing people in advance of actual conflicts.

"The home front command has established a new method of raising awareness, based on an information campaign to prepare the population to face emergency situations," an army spokesman said.

The army will soon begin distributing recommendations to municipalities, including advice related to nonconventional attacks, according to Israel's leading Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

"We have no concrete information about an imminent chemical attack, but it is worth taking advantage of a period of calm to prepare for it," the paper quoted the circular as saying.

Recommendations include stocking up on canned food, water, radios, batteries, and plastic sheets and tape to cover windows and doors in case of an attack involving chemical weapons, the paper said.

Israeli inquiries into the country's conduct during the 2006 Lebanon war, in which Hezbollah fighters fired thousands of rockets into Israel, slammed the country's defense establishment for failing to protect civilians. More...