عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Documents Reveal Israeli Army Poisoned Water Wells in Palestinian Towns During 1948 War

A group of Israeli hikers walk on the hills near the Jordan River where the steam pours into the Dead Sea, near the West Bank city of Jericho, on October 14, 2022. (AFP)
A group of Israeli hikers walk on the hills near the Jordan River where the steam pours into the Dead Sea, near the West Bank city of Jericho, on October 14, 2022. (AFP)
TT
TT

Documents Reveal Israeli Army Poisoned Water Wells in Palestinian Towns During 1948 War

A group of Israeli hikers walk on the hills near the Jordan River where the steam pours into the Dead Sea, near the West Bank city of Jericho, on October 14, 2022. (AFP)
A group of Israeli hikers walk on the hills near the Jordan River where the steam pours into the Dead Sea, near the West Bank city of Jericho, on October 14, 2022. (AFP)

The Israeli army used chemical and biological weapons during the 1948 war, including poisoning water wells in several Palestinian towns, original documents stored in the Israel State Archive, as well as other archives revealed.

The documents showed that Israeli political and military leaders and some scholars were partners in the decision, and had even planned to poison the waters in Cairo and Beirut, but changed their mind at the last minute.

Haaretz reporter Ofer Aderet wrote on Friday that the poisoning was partially exposed decades ago by Arab sources when rumors and oral testimonies were reported in newspapers and books about an attempt by the army in 1948 to poison wells in Acre and Gaza by adding bacteria to the drinking water.

However, the details of Israel’s secret use of biological weapons and poison against Palestinians during the 1948 war was revealed in a recent article by historians Benny Morris and Benjamin Kedar.

Published by Middle Eastern Studies, Morris and Kedar’s research is a rarity because it was researched and published against the wishes of the Israeli security establishment, which has tried for years to block any embarrassing historical documents that expose war crimes against Arabs, such as murdering prisoners, ethnic cleansing and destroying villages, Haaretz wrote.

The poisoning targeted dozens of Palestinian water wells, including the Acre and the Galilee village of Ilabun in the north.

Aderet wrote that the plan was to poison wells in abandoned Arab villages, as well as in Jewish locales that were due to be evacuated by the state-in-the-making.

The goal wasn’t mass poisoning, but rather an act of deterrence that would prevent Palestinians from returning to areas where the water is poisonous.

Morris and Kedar said that the substance used in the poisoning was causing mass infections of dysentery and typhoid, adding that such diseases spread in Acre.

The poisoning started on April 1, 1948 with the knowledge and supervision of several officials, including then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, the documents revealed.

The two researchers also said some Israelis objected against the poisoning, most notably archaeologist Shmarya Gutman, who in 1988 testimonies, said he vehemently opposed the operation on moral grounds and warned that poisoning the water could also harm Jews.

As for Beirut and Cairo, Morris and Kedar revealed that the plan aimed to poison their waters in retaliation against the Arab armies that tried to invade the country to expel the Jews.

However, the Israeli operatives who would be tasked with traveling to both capitals received sudden orders to stop the operation.

Apparently, the operation was exposed in May 1948 when Egyptian authorities arrested in Gaza two Israeli soldiers, posing as Arabs, with tubes containing typhoid germs in their possession.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Lebanon Ex-central Bank Chief's Corruption Case Being Dent to Top Court

The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 
The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 
TT
TT

Lebanon Ex-central Bank Chief's Corruption Case Being Dent to Top Court

The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 
The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 

The corruption case of Lebanon's former central bank governor, who is widely blamed for the country’s economic meltdown, has been transferred to the country's highest court, judicial officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Riad Salameh was released on $14 million bail in September after a year in prison while awaiting trial in Lebanon on corruption charges, including embezzlement and illicit enrichment.

The trial of Salameh, 75, and his two legal associates, Marwan Khoury and Michel Toueini, will now be heard at the Court of Cassation, according to a copy of the notice obtained by the AP. Salameh and the others will be issued with arrest warrants if they don't show up for trial at the court.

No trial date has been set yet. Salameh denies the charges. The court’s final ruling can't be appealed, according to the four officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, because they weren't authorized to speak with the media.

In September 2024, he was charged with the embezzlement of $42 million, with the court later adding charges of illicit enrichment over an apartment rented in France, supposedly to be a substitute office for the central bank if needed. Officials have said that Salameh had rented from his former romantic partner for about $500,000 annually.

He was once celebrated for steering Lebanon’s economic recovery, after a 15-year civil war, upon starting his long tenure in 1993 and keeping the fragile economy afloat during long spells of political gridlock and turmoil.

But in 2023, he left his post after three decades with several European countries investigating allegations of financial crimes. Meanwhile, much of the Lebanese blame his policies for sparking a fiscal crisis in late 2019 where depositors lost their savings, and the value of the local currency collapsed.

On top of the inquiry in Lebanon, he is being investigated by a handful of European countries over various corruption charges. In August 2023, the United States, United Kingdom and Canada imposed sanctions on Salameh.

Salameh has repeatedly denied allegations of corruption, embezzlement and illicit enrichment. He insists that his wealth comes from inherited properties, investments and his previous job as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.

Lebanon’s current central bank governor, Karim Souaid, announced last week that he's filing legal complaints against a former central bank governor and former banking official who diverted funds from the bank to what he said were four shell companies in the Cayman Islands. He didn't name either individual.

But Souaid said that Lebanon's central bank would become a plaintiff in the country's investigation into Forry Associates. The US Treasury, upon sanctioning Salameh and his associates, described Forry Associates as “a shell company owned by Raja (Salameh’s brother) in the British Virgin Islands” used to divert about $330 million in transactions related to the central bank.

Several European countries, among them France, Germany, and Luxembourg, have been investigating the matter, freezing bank accounts and assets related to Salameh and his associates, with little to no cooperation from the central bank and Lebanese authorities.

Souaid said that he will travel later this month to Paris to exchange “highly sensitive” information as France continues its inquiries.

Arab World

Over 100 Children Killed in Gaza Since Ceasefire, UNICEF Says

Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Over 100 Children Killed in Gaza Since Ceasefire, UNICEF Says

Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)

The UN children's agency said on Tuesday that over ​100 children have been killed in Gaza since the October ceasefire, including victims of drone and quadcopter attacks.

“More than 100 children have ‌been killed ‌in Gaza ‌since ⁠the ceasefire ​of ‌early October," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters at a UN briefing by video link from Gaza.

"Survival remains conditional, whilst ⁠the bombings and the shootings ‌have slowed, have ‍reduced during ‍the ceasefire, they have not ‍stopped."

He said that nearly all the deaths of the 60 boys and ​40 girls were from military attacks including air ⁠strikes, drone strikes, tank shelling, gunfire and quadcopters and a few were from war remnants that exploded.

The tally is likely an underestimate since it is only based on deaths for which sufficient ‌information was available, he said.

Arab World

Syrian Army Tells Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Area East of Aleppo City

Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

Syrian Army Tells Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Area East of Aleppo City

Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)

Syria's army told Kurdish forces on Tuesday to withdraw from an area they control east of Aleppo after dislodging fighters from two neighborhoods in the city in deadly clashes last week.

State television published an army statement with a map declaring a large area a "closed military zone" and said "all armed groups in this area must withdraw to east of the Euphrates" River.

The area begins near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Aleppo city and extends to the Euphrates further east, as well as towards the south.

On Monday, Syria accused the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces of sending reinforcements to Deir Hafer and said it sent its own personnel there in response.

The SDF denied any build-up of its forces in the region.

An AFP correspondent saw government forces bringing military reinforcements including artillery to the Deir Hafer area on Tuesday.

On the weekend, Syria's government took full control of Aleppo city after taking over its Kurdish neighborhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish-controlled areas in the country's northeast following days of clashes.

The violence started last Tuesday after negotiations stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the country's new government.

The SDF controls swathes of the country's oil-rich north and northeast, much of which they captured during Syria's civil war and the fight against the ISIS group.