As part of its war on the #Gaza Strip, Israel has been employing several tools that result in serious human rights violations. Among these tools are dogs. Based on Euro-Med Monitor’s documentation, here are 6 ways the Israeli army uses dogs to carry out physical, sexual, and psychological assaults on Palestinian civilians in Gaza
According to testimonies documented by Euro-Med Monitor’s team, the most dangerous and horrifying form of using dogs was practiced against Palestinian prisoners and detainees inside Israeli prisons without any restrictions or red lines. This has escalated to the extent of using dogs to rape prisoners and detainees in front of other inmates, as part of systematic sexual violence crimes against them.
Dogs were systematically used to torture, attack, and intimidate Palestinian prisoners and detainees inside Israeli prisons. In many cases, prisoners were forced under threat to insult Palestinian factions and figures, as well as religious figures, while glorifying animals and dogs.
The Israeli army has repeatedly used dogs in Gaza to enforce orders of forced displacement on residents who did not evacuate their homes. This was done by releasing the dogs on the residents, terrifying them, and allowing the dogs to attack them. In several instances, victims reported that soldiers let the dogs attack them while watching and laughing.
The Israeli army released dogs on medical staff, displaced people, and patients inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, to force them to evacuate the hospital.
Several released Palestinian prisoners reported that during torture sessions, Israeli soldiers and interrogators ordered them to bark like dogs or mimic the sounds of other animals such as sheep. They were also forced to eat food from the floors of their cells and subjected to deliberate humiliation and degradation of their dignity.
Palestinian prisoners and detainees are typically not allowed to sleep normally inside Israeli prisons. In several instances, released prisoners reported being forced to sleep on dog droppings.
