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U.S. military commander lands in Israel on final official visit

Xinhua, June 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey landed on Monday evening in Israel for an official visit, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Unit announced in a statement.

This is Dempsey's last official visit to the region, as he will be vacating his post on Oct. 1. He is set to meet his Israeli counterpart IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot.

This would be the first official meeting between the two officials after Eizenkot assumed the role in February.

Dempsey is also expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and various defense and military officials, with whom he is set to discuss recent security-related developments in the region, including the situation in Syria and the fight against the Islamic State (IS).

On a related matter, the Ha'aretz daily reported on Sunday that the Israeli Air Force would participate in a wide-range international combat drill in the upcoming months, along with the air forces of the United States, Italy and Greece.

The daily reported the exercise is intended to "rehearse a scenario involving a high-intensity confrontation against a political entity with a strong army."

This is Dempsey's fifth visit to the region and he will later continue to visit other states in the region.

While diplomatic relations between the United States and Israel have suffered a blow in recent years over differing opinions between the countries' leaders, military and defense cooperation between the allies is still in full swing.

Washington devised an international coalition last year to combat the IS, an extremist organization aiming to establish a Muslim caliphate amid the advance made by the organization's militants in Syria and Iraq, both states mired in ongoing civil wars.

A militant group affiliated with the IS in the Gaza Strip claimed responsibility for recent rocket attacks on southern Israeli communities, breaking a lull achieved in a cease fire between Israel and Hamas on Aug. 26 to end a two-month war known as Operation Protective Edge.

In response to those attacks, the Israeli air force struck targets in Gaza and deployed additional Iron Dome anti-missile batteries in southern Israeli communities. No injuries or damages were caused in the recent clashes. Endit