RAMALLAH: An Israeli police dog yesterday attacked 105-year-old Salem Bani Odeh during an arrest raid in West Bank town of Tammoun, family sources said.
The sources said that the Israeli soldiers raided Bani Odeh’s house, to the south of Jenin, in search for “wanted Palestinian activist.”
They added that the dog jumped on the handicapped Odeh, biting his chest and chewed off his left ear. Odeh’s son said that his father was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in the city of Nablus for treatment. The soldiers arrested two Palestinians during the house-to-house search.
Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Fathi Abu Moghli, condemned the incident saying, “It is an Israeli crime against Palestinian people and humanity.” He said the Israeli police dog dragged Bani Odeh from his bed and attacked him for 30 minutes.
He said that on arrival to the hospital, medics found that the victim was suffering from deep wounds in the shoulder, scratches on his face, body, and a chewed left ear which necessitated a surgery to reconnect it.
