The Israeli Home Front Command yesterday ordered Israeli civilians to prepare their gas masks for possible use and to keep them nearby at all times (see GSN, March 18). 

Israeli citizens are not to use the masks, however, until ordered to do so by the Israeli military or until after hearing a siren, a Home Front Command announcement said.  The instructions to prepare the gas masks are not based on any new intelligence information concerning a potential Iraqi chemical attack, the Israeli military and prime minister’s office said.

In addition to preparing for possible chemical attacks, Israel has also stepped up its defenses against a possible Iraqi missile attack, according to the Jerusalem Post (see GSN, March 4).  The Israeli military yesterday sent emergency call-up orders to 12,000 reservists, some of whom will be attached to the Arrow and Patriot missile interceptor batteries deployed throughout the country.

The Home Front Command has deployed observers on tall buildings and hilltops to spot incoming missiles and to direct emergency response personnel to missile attack sites, according to the Post.  Teams responsible for assessing the nature of warheads have also been deployed to provide immediate information on incoming Iraqi missiles.

Israel’s two Arrow batteries and three Patriot systems have now been declared fully operational, providing almost all of the country with, as one Israeli officer said, “by far the best missile shield in the world” (Jerusalem Post, March 20).

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