Israeli Army dog attacks a Palestinian Woman in Bethlehem

Wednesday March 21, 2007 18:07 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

A Palestinian woman was wounded when an Israeli army dog attacked her in the village of Obaidiya, near Bethlehem, on Wednesday afternoon.

Troops released the dog after an army bulldozer had demolished part of the home of a civilian named Daoud Rabai'a, 29, who is claimed to be 'wanted' by the Israeli army.

The dog attacked Daoud's sister, Yosra Rabai'a, and bit her arm. Medical sources at Beit Jala hospital reported that Yosra suffered moderate damage to her arm, and that medics managed to stop the bleeding.

The Rabai'a family confirmed that their son was not in the house and added that they told the soldiers to search it. However, the soldiers refused to do so and instead decided to demolish the house. Despite being told that the man is not in the house, troops entered the partially demolished house and fired several rounds of bullets inside it, found no body, and started searching the neighbors' homes.

Shortly before noon, eyewitnesses told IMEMC that Israeli troops invaded the village with armored vehicles and jeeps, surrounded Rabai'a's house and commanded him to turn himself in. Rabai'a is said to be an activist for the Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah.

Troops started to fire sound bombs and live rounds into the house, allegedly in an attempt to force Rabai'a to surrender. Shortly afterwards Palestinian journalists arrived and Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs at them and forced them to move away from the scene. No injuries were reported.

bethlehem | israeli attacks | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org