Beirut - Lebanon must go on high alert in anticipation of Israel's biggest-ever military manoeuvres on May 31, Hezbollah parliamentary bloc head Mohammed Raad said Tuesday. "The country must be fully prepared for such an emergency," Raad was quoted as saying during a national dialogue session at which he distributed an extensive study on the details of targets, scenarios and steps to counter a possible threat.

Raad was speaking during the sixth session of the national dialogue which is held between rival Lebanese factions to try to mend the political divisions in the country.

The Jerusalem Post said earlier this month that the Jewish state and the United States would hold a joint military exercise to test three missile defence systems.

The exercise, entitled Juniper Cobra, will be held in Israel and will test the newly developed Arrow 2, as well as America's THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and the ship-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.

The United States and Israel regularly conduct joint military excercises, but Juniper Cobra will be the most complex and extensive to date, the Post reported.

According to Israeli defence officials, the purpose of the exercise is to create the infrastructure for joint Israeli-American missile defense systems if needed as a result of conflict with Iran.(dpa)