The Drill will include among other scenarios simulations of missile attacks on civilian areas, hazardous material spill in the Haifa Bay and rescue of survivors from a collapsed building. Participating in the drill will be the Home Front Command, emergency services and various government ministries.
The drill comes as tension on Israel's northern borders with Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah is mounting.
Israel has raised its alert level in airports and embassies throughout the world in preparation for a possible attack by Hezbollah. The latter vowed it would launch an "open war" against Israel, blaming it for the killing of its military commander 'Imad Mughniyeh'.
Recent reports have also indicated that Syria has concentrated forces along its border with Lebanon in preparation for a possible Israeli attack. Syria has denied the reports.
Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have both sent calming messages to Lebanon , Syria
The decision to hold the drill "was not caused by fears of escalation on the borders with Syria and Lebanon," said Olmert at the beginning of a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Olmert also said Israel had "an interest in holding peace talks with Syria, which knows full well what our expectations are, just as we know theirs."
"The Zionist ideology is the complete opposite to peace, and so any Israeli mention of peace is aimed only at deception," 'Issam Dari, chief editor of the official Syrian newspaper Tishrin, wrote today in an editorial.
Hezbollah is watching
Hezbollah is to 'follow closely' Israel army maneuvers the group's commander in south Lebanon, Nabil Kaouk, was quoted as saying Saturday.
'Israel's military drill is not a testament of its strength but of its frustration and despair following its defeat in the Second Lebanon War,' Hezbollah television al-Manar quoted Kaouk as saying.
Resigned Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, a member of Hezbollah said Sunday Israel's drill was in violation of international law.
"Any maneuver along the border of any country is tantamount to war against that country," Salloukh told reporters in south Lebanon.
"There is full cooperation between the Lebanese army and UNIFIL in order to thwart any Israeli violation of the Blue Line," Salloukh added.
He said he hoped the Israeli exercise is not an "excuse" by the Jewish state to launch a new offensive on Lebanon.
Lebanon urges army to be prepared
Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora urges the Lebanese army to be prepared for any 'Israeli violation' of the Lebanese territories.
The remark came after Israeli media reported that the regime is to hold a large-scale military exercises
Siniora warned on Friday that Tel Aviv could exploit major military exercises to exacerbate tensions along the volatile border between Lebanon and Israel.
Top Picture: An Israeli firefighter wearing protective gear rinses off during a drill simulating a rocket and chemical attack at a hospital in the southern city of Ashkelon
A guard of Israel's parliament, left, and negotiators walk alongside a vehicle of a woman who threatened to blow herself up near the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Sunday April 6, 2008. The woman drove a van to an access road leading to the Knesset building in Jerusalem on Sunday demanding that the state assist her in obtaining two wheelchairs for her children and threatened to commit suicide by blowing up the vehicle, a police spokesman said
Sources: The Media Line, Ya Libnan, AP