Rosie Varte

Some have said that claims that Israel uses dogs to sexually abuse prisoners are antisemitic blood libels. Unfortunately, there is a good deal of evidence. The organizations that confirmed this include B’Tselem, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Council on American-Islamic Relations. Here is the testimony of survivors: 1) "Nihad" (50-year-old father, Ofer Prison): In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Nihad testified that during a pre-dawn raid on January 14, 2024, Israeli soldiers ordered a police dog to sexually assault him. He described it as "the most painful moments of my life" and noted that the assault left him with deep physical wounds and long-term trauma. 2) "A.A." (35-year-old father, Sde Teiman): Arrested from Al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024, A.A. told the PCHR that soldiers took him to a corridor away from cameras, stripped him naked, and unleashed dogs that urinated on him before one dog raped him anally for approximately three minutes. He emphasized that the dog appeared "trained" and "knew exactly what it was doing". 3) "Halim Salem" (Pseudonym, West Bank Detainee): Testified to Middle East Eye that while he was forced to kneel with his head in a toilet, guards brought in a dog that "mounted and raped" him. He recalled that when he screamed, the guards beat him for "disturbing the dog". 4) "Wajdi" (43-year-old, Gaza Detainee): Recounted to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor that during interrogation, he was tied naked to a metal bed and raped by both a soldier and a dog while other soldiers filmed and mocked him. 5) Mohammed Arab (Al Araby TV Correspondent): While detained at Sde Teiman, he told his lawyer he witnessed soldiers forcing dogs to rape prisoners. He stated, "They teach their dogs to have sex with prisoners. Can you imagine?". 6) 18-year-old Gazan Detainee (Sde Teiman): Testified to PCHR that while he and other captives were being raped with bottles by soldiers, there was "also a dog behind us, as if the dog was raping us," serving as a form of extreme psychological and physical humiliation. 7) 48-year-old Detainee (Al-Shifa/Military Outpost): Reported witnessing a dog maul another man’s genitals until the victim bled to death in his arms. 8) The Committee to Protect Journalists and Middle East Monitor have collected dozens of testimonies from journalists who reported being subjected to "dog attacks" and sexualized torture during their detention. I talked to two guards in Sde Teiman, on more than one occasion. One had seen this happen and said it was too awful to talk about. The other said that he had heard about it from others and believed it was true. This happened. This is happening still. The evidence is too overwhelming.