Palestinian youths hurl stones at an armored Israeli army vehicle during clashes in the West Bank City of Nablus December 21, 2005. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

by Walid Abdelhadi
Balata Refugee Camp

Monday early morning (2:00 am) Israeli occupation troops invaded the Balata refugee camp.  They attacked several people’s homes in the camp.  At one of these homes they used a dog equipped with a wireless speaker in its ear, a spotlight and a wireless camera. The dog resembled more of a robot than an actual animal. The human handler verbally controls every move for the dog. The dog is used to search for wanted fighters instead of the soldiers.  The dog bites its 12year old victim on the leg and with the third bite removes a chunk of flesh the size of a cigarette box.  The boy’s father in his late 40s was outside where he had been detained by the Israelis when he answered his front door.  He was forced to strip naked and to stand up against the wall of the house in the cold of night for almost one hour until the soldiers withdrew. The child was not transported to the hospital until the soldiers had gone.  There was no one wanted in this household, but instead they were victims of collective punishment that the Israeli occupation forces make to the residents of the camp.

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Palestinian: IDF dog bites boy in Nablus: Latest incident marks second such case in two weeks; victim’s brother: Dog wouldn’t let go
by Ali Waked

YNET - Palestinian sources in Nablus say that a dog that took part in an army operation in the city bit a 12 year-old Palestinian boy during a search of a home. The child sustained serious injuries to his leg.

The latest incident marks the second time where a dog bites a child in the course of searches during anti-terror operations. Two weeks ago, a dog bit another 12 year-old child in Jenin. The IDF's Spokesperson Unit has yet to respond to the latest incident.

Palestinians say that in the course of the operation, men were requested to leave their home, and a dog was sent to conduct searches in one of the homes.

The child, Bassal abu-Dahuk, was taken to a Nablus hospital. His older brother, Muhammad, told Ynet: "An army force arrived at our street early in the morning. Soldiers entered the home of neighbors and asked our landlord to come in. She came into our home and my father complied with the soldiers' instructions and left the house. The door of the house remained open and suddenly an army dog went in, completely unescorted."

Muhammad says family members were alarmed by the dog, which started to attack them.

"Suddenly we saw the dog bite my brother in his leg and hand, he dragged him outside. Despite all of our shouts and attempts to kick the dog, the dog wouldn’t to let go of Bassal," Muhammad said.

Sister faints

Muhammad added that the dog dragged Bassal towards the stairs where the soldiers were standing. "I started hitting the dog with metal boxes I found in the stairwell until the dog released my brother," he said.

An army medic then administered first aid to the child and called for him to be evacuated to hospital. A younger sister in the family of 11 also needed medical treatment after fainting and feeling unwell due to the dog's attack.
 
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Army invades Nablus, two residents arrested, one injured       
Monday, 19 December 2005, 13:16
   
IMEMC - The Israeli army invaded, on Monday at dawn, Balata Refugee Camp in the West Bank city of Nablus. Two residents were arrested and one child was injured.

Troops invaded the camp and conducted house-to-house searches. Soldiers unleashed a police dog on a family in their house; the dog attacked Waleed Abu Dahouq, 12, causing him injures in the abdomen, left leg and right arm, eyewitnesses reported.

The boy was moved to Raffidia Hospital, where he was admitted for his injures in the orthopedic wing, the source added.

Soldiers also  arrested two residents from the camp during the invasion, and took them to an unknown destination, while their names are still unknown.