Army dogs wage war on illegal Palestinian workers

Workers say the use of dogs to hunt down anyone trying to enter Israel illegally is a new phenomenon which has only been occurring for about two months.

But it is a development which has quickly spread fear and anger among the worker population living in the south Hebron Hills, one of the poorest areas in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Israeli army readily admits to using dogs in its operations in the West Bank, but says they are only brought in as a way of protecting the sprawling separation barrier from Palestinian vandals looking to create openings which would allow "terrorists" to infiltrate Israel.

"In order to prevent damage to the security fence, the IDF (army) uses a number of different measures, including the canine unit and its trained dogs, while taking appropriate precautionary measures to avoid unnecessary injury," the army said in a statement sent to AFP.

It said troops had been working with dogs in Ramadin on the southern tip of the West Bank where the barrier had been purposely damaged "to permit the passage of terrorists into Israel" but argued that the use of dogs "limits bodily injuries and obviates the use of other measures."

But Palestinian labourers tell a different story.

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