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After three day curfew during IDF operation to capture wanted terrorists, Kfar Yamoun residents discover dozens of water wells have been blown up or spoiled
mailto:contact@maariv.co.il Marwan Athamna

The IDF operation began last Thursday, when soldiers entered Kfar Yamoun near Jenin in a search for two wanted terrorists. Village residents say three IDF jeeps entered the village around 7pm, fired warning shots and grenades in to the air and then left after 20 minutes. The IDF returned again and again over the next three days in greater numbers: residents claim some 25 military vehicles with dozens of soldiers and Armored Personnel Carriers were in the village at different points.

Soldiers surrounded the neighborhood of Chawashiya, cutting it off from the rest of the village. The neighborhood was put under curfew, and Yamoun village council head Nayeff Hamesi said that soldiers began a thorough house to house search for the men.

Unsuccessful, the soldiers began searching in the many water wells in the neighborhood on Sunday. During the search they threw tear gas and stun grenades in to the wells, which either ruined or poisoned some 50 wells, according to Hamesi. Some residents claim that the soldiers used the “neighbor method”, ruled illegal by Israel's High Court, in which they forced a local resident to knock on doors in search of the terrorists, so as not to have to face Palestinian gunfire.

Kfar Yamoun has long had a water problem, and water flows through municipal pipes only at various hours of the day. So residents often dig wells to catch winter rains. The wells cost anywhere between $1,000-2,000 to dig.

Municipal water trucks went around the village today trying to help residents pump the contaminated water from the wells so that residents can refill them with fresh water to drink from.

The IDF says it is investigating the circumstances of the incident.

(2004-06-29 23:10:51.0)