The IDF is considering using new techniques to deal with violent riots in Judea and Samaria. Among the methods that may be instituted is the use of trained attack dogs.
The IDF has trained dogs, handled by members of the Oketz Unit, that are used to sniff out bombs or missing persons. The dogs are also capable of bringing down violent suspects without causing serious injury.
Another method that may be put into use is the use of paintball guns. Currently, soldiers sometimes use rubber bullets when they are threatened by rioters. While rubber bullets are intended to be non-lethal, they have occasionally caused fatal injuries.
Commanders began mulling new methods following the deaths of two Palestinian Authority Arab teens in a riot in Samaria on Saturday. The two were killed during a clash with IDF soldiers.
While it was initially thought that both had died after being struck by rubber bullets fired by IDF soldiers, pathology reports conducted by PA doctors showed that at least one of the teens was killed by live fire, the source of which remains unclear. The IDF Civil Administration has created a team comprised of both IDF and PA doctors to investigate the matter.
Lieutenant-Colonel Fares Atila, head of the Civil Administration's office in the Shechem region, said soldiers in the area had been on edge since the fatal terrorist stabbing at Tapuach Junction one month earlier. “The soldiers have been forced to be even more alert, as everyone internalized the idea that even a seemingly innocent situation can turn into a terrorist attack,” Atila explained.
"It's hard to argue with the sense of danger that a commander feels in the field,” he added.