Israel is set to begin its annual nationwide homefront defense exercise on Sunday. The week-long exercise, named "Resilient Homefront 1," will simulate missile attacks all over Israel, including in urban population centers and areas of strategic importance. The exercise will simulate missiles being "fired" from Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, some of them with chemical warheads. The exercise puts a specific emphasis on training the central Gush Dan area homefront defense teams. On Monday, two sirens will go off across the country, one at 12:30 p.m. and the other at 7:05 p.m. Alongside the sirens, citizens will receive messages on cell phones and other communication devices with instructions. Citizens are requested to go to prepared safe rooms at the time of the siren. The exercise intends to test Israelis' response to an emergency at workplaces, schools and homes. If there are no safe-rooms in the vicinity when the sirens go off, citizens are asked to seek the most protected area they can find and stay there for 10 minutes. Among the forces being tested during "Resilient Homefront 1" are the Homefront Defense Ministry, Israel Defense Forces Homefront Command, Magen David Adom emergency medical service, police and firefighters.
