The dog alerted his handler to an irregular airflow pattern and scent signature near a partially collapsed interior wall.
By Hezy Laing
The IDF’s Oketz K‑9 Unit reported that its military working dog “Nero,” a Belgian Malinois born in 2020 and trained at the Oketz base near Tel Nof, located a concealed tunnel shaft during a counterterrorism sweep in the northern Gaza Strip and prevented what commanders described as a near‑certain mass‑casualty incident.
Oketz, formally established in 1974 and considered one of the IDF’s most specialized units, deploys dogs trained for attack, explosives detection, search‑and‑rescue, and tunnel identification, with approximately 400 active dogs and handlers serving at any given time.
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Nero was attached to a platoon from the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, operating in the Beit Hanoun sector during a building‑to‑building clearance mission on April 28, 2024.
The dog alerted his handler, Sergeant First Class (SFC) Daniel M., to an irregular airflow pattern and scent signature near a partially collapsed interior wall.
Engineers from the Combat Engineering Corps’ Yahalom Unit, Israel’s elite engineering and tunnel‑warfare formation, were called to the scene and confirmed that Nero had identified the entrance to a vertical shaft descending approximately 11 meters into a reinforced tunnel network.
IDF officials stated that the shaft was rigged with an improvised explosive device estimated at 15–20 kilograms of homemade explosive material, designed to detonate when soldiers entered the room.
The platoon commander, Captain (Res.) Yonatan L., said in a briefing that Nero’s detection “saved at least 20 soldiers,” noting that the unit had been seconds away from stepping directly onto the disguised entry point.
Nero had previously completed more than 60 operational missions since the beginning of the Gaza conflict in October 2023, including explosives detection in Shuja’iyya and tunnel‑mapping support in Khan Younis.
Veterinary staff at the Oketz base reported that Nero sustained minor abrasions from debris during the operation but returned to duty within 48 hours.
The IDF released thermal‑camera footage showing Nero’s alert posture, though the exact location of the shaft was withheld for operational security reasons.
International military analysts, including researchers from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), noted that Oketz dogs have played a critical role in reducing casualties in dense urban combat, with canine detection accuracy for explosives and tunnels measured at over 90 percent in controlled testing.
Nero’s actions were widely cited within the IDF as an example of the life‑saving role of military working dogs in modern asymmetric warfare.
