The IDF’s Oketz Unit, whose combat soldiers operate with specially trained dogs for missions in counter-terrorism, search and rescue, and other purposes, has succeeded during the war with Hamas in finding dozens of bombs and many other Hamas weapons, locating terrorist hideouts and ambushes, and helping to recover the bodies of murdered hostages Yehudit Weiss and Noa Marciano.
More specifically, the canine unit was critical in uncovering Hamas’s concealed abuse of the Turkish, Rantisi, and Shifa hospitals.
A senior IDF official described Oketz (Sting) entering the hospitals with other Special Forces units, like Maglan. In the Turkish hospital, they found two large bombs, one on the way into the hospital and one inside a vehicle in between two of the hospital buildings.
After a dog signaled that it had found explosives in the car, the IDF used a Zik drone to destroy the car safely without harming any troops.
At Rantisi, a dog named Denver found a bomb which also contained extensive bullets and shrapnel. Near Shifa, the dogs helped find the bodies of Weiss and Marciano and other items connected to dead hostages. Another dog found a bomb in Shifa’s physical therapy department.
Generally, Oketz found Hamas weapons stashed everywhere, from medical machines, to medicine cabinets and patients’ beds.
Four Oketz dogs killed in action in Gaza
Four Oketz dogs have died in action in Gaza and another in fighting before the invasion. One dog named Ghandi died three days ago, after saving the lives of several soldiers.
The Oketz soldiers had sent the dog into a multi-story building. The first and second floors were found to be clean of threats, but on the third floor, terrorists ambushed the dog, thinking it was a soldier.
This exposed their position and allowed the IDF to direct significant firepower to the third floor, killing the terrorists.
The dog sacrificed its life to save the soldiers, who would have been ambushed – one of many such cases.
Despite the dog’s sacrifice, Oketz lost an officer in combat, Maj. Aryeh Tziring, and 14 other soldiers have been wounded so far.
A senior IDF officer also singled out the female soldiers in the canine unit for risking their lives and distinguishing themselves in combat situations.
Oketz also operates on the northern border and in the West Bank, especially Tulkarm.