AP, JERUSALEM – The giant Caterpillar bulldozer, used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, now comes with a controversial new feature: remote control.
Israel says its remote-control technology will lower risks to soldiers. But Palestinians fear it will lead to more frequent raids using the machines and make the three-year conflict even bloodier.
The remote-controlled D-9 bulldozer and a remote-control version of the Humvee, equipped with machine guns, were developed by the Israeli army and the Technion Institute of Technology. Both machines are U.S.-made, with Israeli modifications. They are expected to go into service in the next few weeks.
The army declined to comment or reveal further details about the new equipment.
TECH PIONEER
Israel has been a pioneer in unmanned weapons systems for nearly three decades, developing one of the first remote-controlled planes and more recently creating machine guns and grenade launchers that can be fired from afar. The weapons are equipped with cameras, so their operators can see what they are doing.
Describing a day of field trials, a Technion statement quoted an Israeli army officer as asserting the thousands of dollars invested in each machine would save lives. ''Today the bulldozer drivers are exposed to great danger when they knock down buildings that have militants hiding in them,'' the statement quoted the officer as saying.
But Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat warned that the unmanned machines would lead to even more Palestinian deaths. ''The whole idea is despicable,'' he said. “If an unmanned bulldozer is used, human life is in much greater danger.
The Israeli military regularly demolishes suicide bombers' homes and other buildings militants are suspected of using for cover to attack Israelis.
For Palestinians, the name D-9 has become synonymous with destruction.
The gray, heavily armored machines, which stand as tall as a small house, already have turned hundreds of buildings into dusty rubble heaps and ancient olive groves into wastelands with their powerful shovel blades. Israeli commentator Nahum Barnea has called them “the terrifying beast of this war.''
The D-9 gained notoriety in the weeklong battle between soldiers and Palestinian militants in the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002, one of the fiercest in the past three years. With a deafening roar, the bulldozer plowed through narrow alleys, shearing the fronts off homes, to cut a path for advancing soldiers.
AMNESTY'S VIEW
The human rights group Amnesty International says the destruction of homes is a grave violation of international law. However, Amnesty's Israel director, Amnon Vidan, said the group has no opinion on the specific types of vehicles used.
Developers say the new machine will save lives on both sides, pointing to the case of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Wash., who was crushed to death by a bulldozer — not a D-9 — on March 16 while trying to block a house demolition in the Gaza Strip.
The army said the driver, sitting in the heavily armored cabin, could not see Corrie.
The new D-9 has a wider and better field of vision, with cameras mounted much higher than the driver's cabin, said Technion project developer Shai Hershler.
