Israel yesterday destroyed five cisterns and several tents, sheepfolds and storage sites in four Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During the process, the contents of several feed sacks were spilled and damaged.

Altogether, according to UN data, Israel razed some 400 Palestinian structures in the West Bank's Area C between the start of the year and mid-August, including 120 houses; more than 600 Palestinians were hurt by these demolitions. Area C is the part of the West Bank that the Oslo Accords assigned to full Israeli control.

The structures destroyed yesterday were in four communities located in the south Hebron Hills.

In Susya, Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank destroyed a sheepfold and two tents that had been donated to the village by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs after previous demolitions at the site, the most recent of which occurred on August 24. The first tent served as a residence, and the second as storage space.

In Arab al-Ramadin, two additional structures were demolished.

South of Dahariya, the Civil Administration destroyed five cisterns used by area shepherds and farmers - two near Khirbet Zanuta and three in Khirbet Anizat. These two communities also lost five sheepfolds, two tents, a tin shack and two improvised buildings used to store food. Some of the cisterns, which were used to collect rainwater, were filled in with dirt and rocks.

Residents of Khirbet Zanuta said one of the cisterns was hundreds of years old.

In Khirbet Anizat, a bulldozer destroyed a large water container set up on the skeleton of a commercial vehicle that was serving as a warehouse. All the water inside was spilled.

A spokesman for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Guy Inbar, said all the structures "were built illegally, and most of the wells were built recently on state lands." But residents claim they have been living on these sites since before Israel captured the West Bank in 1967.