Army dogs wage war on illegal Palestinian workers
Palestine: Palestinians desperate for work in Israel will go to
extremes to sneak past the West Bank barrier, but now they face a new
hurdle — army attack dogs sent to sniff them out.
Workers say the use of dogs to hunt down anyone trying to enter
Israel illegally is a new phenomenon which has only been occurring for
about two months.
But it is a development which has quickly spread fear and anger among
the worker population living in the south Hebron Hills, one of the
poorest areas in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli army readily admits to using dogs in its operations in
the West Bank, but says they are only brought in as a way of protecting
the sprawling separation barrier from Palestinian vandals looking to
create openings which would allow “terrorists” to infiltrate Israel.
“In order to prevent damage to the security fence, the IDF (army)
uses a number of different measures, including the canine unit and its
trained dogs, while taking appropriate precautionary measures to avoid
unnecessary injury,” the army said in a statement sent to AFP.
It said troops had been working with dogs in Ramadin on the southern
tip of the West Bank where the barrier had been purposely damaged “to
permit the passage of terrorists into Israel” but argued that the use of
dogs “limits bodily injuries and obviates the use of other measures.”
But Palestinian labourers tell a different story.
On May 1, which is celebrated as International Workers Day, two
labourers were moderately wounded after being attacked near Ramadin.
Ramadin, Wednesday, AFP
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