In another gruesome incident, Israeli occupation forces released an attack dog on 4-year-old Palestinian boy Ibrahim Hashash, who suffered internal and external injuries after the dog bit him for at least three minutes.
On February 4, Sunday, a violent military dog was unleashed by Israeli soldiers to target the Hashash family apartment, near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.
The group of army personnel responsible for the inhumane attack was returning after carrying out an arrest operation in the Balata refugee camp, this week, ‘Defense for Children International – Palestine’, a rights group, said on Wednesday.
As soon as the dog entered the apartment, it ran towards Ibrahim and began attacking him after taking him out of his mother’s arms.
The dog repeatedly bit him on the lower half of the body, leading to profuse bleeding.
“The dog made frightening sounds while biting Ibrahim, and blood was flowing heavily as he screamed and cried intensely,” said Ibrahim’s mother, who tried to rescue her child.
The attack continued for about three minutes, after which he was taken to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in an ambulance, where he is being treated for injuries.
“Israeli forces routinely show complete disregard, and often contempt, for Palestinian children’s lives and safety,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability programme director at DCIP said.
“In a hypermilitarized environment where systemic impunity is the norm, kids like Ibrahim will increasingly be targets,” he added.
Ibrahim will have to undergo plastic surgery to repair his injuries, according to medical sources.
According to DCIP, Israeli forces routinely use military dogs against Palestinian civilians, including children, during raids and arrest operations in the West Bank.
In 2023 alone, four Palestinian children were attacked by Israeli military dogs.
These cases include a 13-year-old boy in Tulkarem, a 14-year-old girl in Jenin, and two siblings aged eight and 12 in Tubas.
In addition, at least 383 Palestinians were killed, 4,400 others were injured, and more than 6,920 Palestinians were arrested by Israel from West Bank since October 7, 2023, according to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS.)
In Gaza, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 27,840 Palestinians have been killed, and 67,317 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide.
