An Israeli human rights group has criticized the Israel Defense Forces' use of dogs, citing the case of a Palestinian teenager who was bitten after he threw rocks at troops north of Hebron. Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem said the footage, broadcast Monday on Israeli media, was filmed in December of 2014. She said troops from the Oketz canine unit set the dog on a crowd of Palestinians throwing rocks, and the animal bit the 16-year-old. One of the soldiers could be heard taunting the Palestinian youth. One senior IDF officer said that deploying the dog was appropriate under the circumstances, but the ensuing conduct by the soldier was not. He added that suitable measures would be taken against those involved. Michaeli said the youth was taken to hospital and later sentenced to over a year in prison for throwing rocks and a firebomb in separate incidents. She said dogs are unnecessary as the army has other means to disperse Palestinian rock throwers. The IDF said it launched an inquiry into the incident and is taking measures to prevent it from happening again. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on its Facebook page that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot ordered that the investigation be concluded by Thursday. According to Eizenkot, "It would be a mistake to come to conclusions before the investigation runs its course, but the incident is undoubtedly serious and is not compatible with what is expected of our soldiers."
IDF chief orders investigation into soldiers' use of attack dogs
Israeli human rights group criticizes army's use of dogs, cites case of Palestinian teen who was bitten after throwing rocks at troops • Senior officer: Deploying the dog was appropriate under the circumstances, but ensuing conduct by the soldier was not.
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