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Historians have recovered official documentation proving that Israeli soldiers poisoned wells to prevent expelled from returning to their home villagesÌýduring the .

Testimonies regarding the act of biological warfareÌýhave been heard and publicised for decades, but historians Benny Morris and Benjamin Z. Kedar have found Israeli military documentation that have cast any doubt over its occurence aside and provided new details regarding its scope,ÌýHaaretz Ìýon Friday.

The operation was codenamed 'Cast Thy Bread'.

"We uncovered a lot of new information. We deciphered how the operation developed through its various stages; we discovered who authorised, organised and controlled the operation, and how it was carried out in different areas," Morris toldÌýHaaretz.Ìý"We have a much fuller picture now."

The operation began in April 1948,Ìýwhen Israel, formally established as a state a month later, was in the process of expelling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland and its army and associated militias committed a host of massacres.

This event later became known by Palestinians as the Nakba.

Initially focused on an area between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the poisoning operation expanded to include areas across Palestine.

It was at first ordinary soldiers who were tasked with poisoning the wells, but the job was later given to the , an undercover force who disguised themselves as Palestinians and specialised in sabotage operations in enemy territory, according to the documents.

The poison was produced in a unit in the army's Science Corps that dealt with biological warfare.

It was even proposed that the operation be expanded to include Beirut and Cairo, to stop Arab armies from invading - but this part of the scheme did not materialise.

Dozens of people fell ill because of the poisoning, according to previous reports.

Much of the Israeli archives from the Nakba periodÌýremain classified - though many new historicÌýdetails from the periodÌýare slowly resurfacing.