Two Israel Defense Forces reservist battalions held assault exercises in two Palestinian villages in the West Bank without genuine operational justification. Reservists reported that the civilians in the two villages, which are normally quiet and not considered dangerous, were "harassed" and scared because of the large military presence in their village. The exercise also upset many of the units' officers and soldiers.

The last such exercise was carried out in late February in the villages of Beit Lid and Safarin, west of Nablus. A similar exercise was carried out some two months earlier. In both cases it involved two battalions of paratroopers, who held a concluding exercise in preparation of taking part in routine security operations in the West Bank.

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A human rights group, Yesh Din, sent a letter yesterday to the military advocate general, Brigadier General Avihai Mandelblit, protesting the exercises.

The group's legal adviser, Michael Sfarad, wrote Mandelblit that during the second exercise, "soldiers of the battalion entered the villages on foot and for three hours acted out a battle, while they practiced movement in an urban area without using live ammunition... The villagers were frightened by the sudden presence of military forces... Families woke from their sleep because of the sounds of the exercise and those heading for morning prayers suffered great shock and fright.

"To the best of my knowledge," Sfarad wrote, "army regulations forbid carrying out exercises in settled areas without previously coordinating them with the local population and informing the relevant civilian authorities... This is a serious affront to the integrity of the civilians in occupied territory, who are being used, as is their village, as a training facility by the army at any time the commanders wish to do so. These actions are carried out despite the fact that they cause fright and suffering and harm the peace of the villages during the late night hour.

"In addition," Sfarad writes, "an exercise of this type creates a real danger to the lives of the citizens and also to the lives of the soldiers participating in it. We all know the reality in the West Bank; we know that hostile elements will open fire against IDF forces, and that there is a danger the soldiers will open fire against civilians by mistake."

Sfarad says there are suspicions that the commanders who authorized the training have diverged from regulations and have put lives at risk.

The human rights group asked the military advocate general to investigate the matter.

One of the reservists who spoke with the human rights volunteers claimed that the exercise was not carried out properly and that during its course the soldiers' weapons were not loaded in order to avoid accidental shooting. He said that for this reason the soldiers did not behave the way they normally would.

The IDF spokesman told Haaretz last night that "the exercise and its location were authorized by all the relevant persons. There was no abuse of the population. No roads were closed and there was no disturbance to the people in their homes. Overall, there was no contact with the population and everything was done according to regulations and orders."