GAZA CITY — In a crumbling neighborhood of eastern Gaza, 70-year-old Omar Youssef recalls an Israeli raid that left physical and psychological scars. “It wasn’t an arrest,” he says, “it was a hunt.”
For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.
A military dog, equipped with a head-mounted camera, was unleashed on him. Following the Hebrew command Tebitoh (“catch him”), the dog tore through his clothes and flesh, its teeth reaching the bone. As Omar screamed for help, soldiers watched through a screen. No one intervened.
The dog dragged him down three floors, where an officer fed it a treat as a reward. “They treated it like it had captured a beast,” Omar said.
Bleeding heavily, he was forced to undress in his kitchen before being moved through neighboring homes. His wounds remained untreated for hours.
Pattern of attacks
These are not isolated events. In July 2024, in Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya district, Israeli forces stormed the Bahar family home. Two trained dogs were released during the raid. One attacked 25-year-old Mohammed Bahar, who had Down syndrome. His mother, Nabila, said the dog mauled her son’s chest and arm as he cried out, “No, please.” She begged the soldiers to let her help him. They refused. He died minutes later.
The dog has my boy!
In Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, 58-year-old Fatima Saleh was attacked by a black dog that clamped onto her hand for more than 15 minutes. “The soldiers laughed,” she said. She required multiple surgeries and remains psychologically traumatized.
In Balata camp, a massive dog bit three-year-old Ibrahim in the back as soldiers stood by. His mother, Amani, pleaded for help: “The dog has my boy!” After surgery and 42 stitches, Ibrahim continues to suffer from nightmares.
In Jabalia, 69-year-old Dawlat al-Tanani was attacked while lying in bed. Footage from the dog’s camera shows it latching onto her shoulder. “It ripped my arm to the bone,” she said.
In Khan Younis, 34-year-old Tahreer al-Arian, pregnant after years of infertility, was attacked by a dog that bit her leg for ten minutes. She lost her unborn child from the trauma and blood loss.
Inside Israel’s Oketz unit
Behind these attacks stands Israel’s elite canine unit, Oketz — Hebrew for “sting” — originally formed in 1939 and revived in 1974. Operating with near-total secrecy until 1988, the unit now plays a key role in combat, search and intelligence missions.
Oketz relies on military-grade dogs, 99% of which are imported from Europe — mainly Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds and British Labradors. The dogs cost up to $10,000 each and are trained for two years in explosive detection, tunnel searches and combat. Each canine serves up to eight years.
They’re treated as pets under export law, shielding companies from accountability.
According to military reports, 42 dogs from Oketz have been killed since the start of the 2023 Gaza war, illustrating how heavily Israel depends on them. In 2009, three were killed during Operation Cast Lead.
Western supply chains and legal grey zones
Despite public denials, investigative records confirm that Israel imports hundreds of trained dogs annually, primarily from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the UK and the Czech Republic. Many are labeled as “pets” to bypass regulation.
Dutch company Four Winds K9 alone exported 100 dogs between 2023 and 2025. Though it claims they are not trained for attacks, a 2015 settlement with a Palestinian teen mauled by one of its dogs suggests otherwise. In correspondence with Israel’s Defense Ministry, the company referenced a 25-year relationship.
Official responses to press inquiries were evasive. Some EU governments claimed the dogs were not classified as “strategic goods,” while others cited data protection laws. Germany, for example, said it had no data at all, despite clear evidence of export.
Ongoing scrutiny has prompted Dutch Member of Parliament Christine Teunissen to file formal questions to the Netherlands’ defense ministry. “These dogs are being used as weapons,” she said. “But they’re treated as pets under export law, shielding companies from accountability.”
Legal and ethical fallout
Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur for Palestinian territories, called these practices “a grave violation” of the Geneva Conventions. Amnesty International also warned of the dangers of using animals for policing or military purposes. Trained dogs, they argue, fall into a legal blind spot: dangerous but unregulated.
Alana Stevenson, a dog behavior expert, describes the training methods — such as “helicoptering,” where dogs are choked into submission — as inherently abusive. “Once a dog learns that aggression earns rewards, it becomes impossible to break the cycle.”
Dogs are being used not for defense, but for domination
Veterinary data from the Netherlands reveals that most dogs exported to Israel during wartime were certified through just a few companies, raising concerns of institutional complicity.
Efforts to hold exporters accountable have faced resistance. While EU laws restrict arms exports to violators of human rights, dogs remain outside the scope of these treaties. Patrick Wilcken of Amnesty suggests updating legal frameworks to include dogs trained for combat or law enforcement.
Even as legal experts debate these gaps, one reality remains: in Gaza and the West Bank, dogs are being used not for defense, but for domination. And the scars they leave, both physical and emotional, may never heal.
