The Israeli military mobilized some 13,000 soldiers for an unexpected drill on Sunday in the occupied West Bank, in the first such exercise in three years.
Army chief Gadi Eisenkot had initiated a "surprise exercise in Central Command" — the military front that controls land taken in a 1967 war which is pursued by Palestinians as part of a future state.
The footage of the drill showed soldiers in bulletproof vehicles practicing how to handle casualties at the scene of a confrontation.
Asked about the timing of the drill, a military spokeswoman said it was "not necessarily linked to anything specific". Such exercises take place in the West Bank on and off with last one held in 2012.
Eisenkot, who took the control of the military last month, had called a two-day drill to test the army's level of preparedness, reports Israeli media.
Israel Radio cited an unidentified senior military source as saying the drill had been unexpected, would be "unusual in size" and would also involve aerial and intelligence units.
