Mauling of elderly Gaza woman raises concerns about use of Israeli 'army dogs'

Video footage of an Israeli army dog mauling an elderly Palestinian woman in Gaza has sparked questions over the use of canines in the war and their potential use as weapons of torture.

The video footage, broadcasted by the Al Jazeera Network this week, showed a large dog viciously biting and dragging a 66-year-old Palestinian woman in her home in Jabalia, north Gaza. The leaked footage came from a camera attached to the dog.

The woman, identified as Dawlat Abdullah Al Tanani, said she refused to leave her home, with Israeli forces setting the dogs on her while she was still in bed. The mauling resulted in fractures and serious injuries.

Activists and campaigners used the footage to highlight a pattern of Israel using dogs to attack Palestinians.

In February, Israeli news site Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the ministry of defence started the process of purchasing trained dogs from Europe to use in the war on Gaza.

According to the report, dogs from the Oketz unit were being sent inside tunnels in Gaza to help "soldiers a lot in identifying dangerous areas where militants are hiding, or where they plant weapons and rockets".

The report added that the trained dogs, mostly of the Malino breed, come from the Netherlands and Germany.

In October 2015, Dutch News reported that the Netherlands was supplying dogs to the Israeli army, based on research from the NRC news site, however exact figures on the number of dogs exported were not available as Amsterdam does not distinguish between animals used by the military and police, and pets, the NRC reported.

Dutch News reported that the Brabant breeder Four Winds K9 told the NRC that it has been the main supplier of dogs to the Israeli army.

The New Arab reached out to Four Winds K9 but did not receive a comment by the time of publication, but their website states the company has worked for at least 20 years for government agencies and multinationals all over the world.

"Four Winds works with an experienced team of professionals at the training professionals at the training facility in the Netherlands and many projects abroad, mainly in the African and Middle East region," the website states, although Israel is not mentioned.

The company previously compensated a Palestinian who was seriously injured in an attack by a dog supplied to the Israeli army.

The civil lawsuit was filed by Hamzeh Abu Hashem against the company and its directors in 2017 who agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to Abu Hashem towards his recovery as a "gesture of good will".

However, the company denied legal liability because the Israeli army trained the dogs.

Abu Hashem was attacked by two Israeli dogs in December 2014, suffering serious injuries, which came after confrontations broke out between Israeli forces and residents in the village of Beit Ommar. Abu Hashem's lawyers said Israeli soldiers unleashed two canines on young people, biting him in the legs, arms and shoulder.

Part of the attack was caught on video and published by Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, where soldiers can be heard taunting Abu Hashem before the dogs bite him.

Four Winds K9 director Tonny Boeijen later confirmed to NRC in 2015 that the dogs were indeed supplied by his company.

There is no indication that the dogs used in the mauling of the woman were linked to the company or if their animals have been deployed to Gaza.

Dog attacks condemned

The footage of the dog attacking the Palestinian woman has triggered a wave of condemnation from people online.

Some have highlighted that the dog attacks breach Israel's obligations under the Geneva Convention to protect civilians in occupied territory.

Husam Zomlot, Palestine's ambassador to the UK, joined the criticisms, decrying it on social media platform X.

"Shocking footage of an Israeli army dog attacking and viciously biting 66-year-old Palestinian woman in her house in Jabalia city, north of Gaza. Cowards!" he wrote.