IDF ends controversial Hebron operation after days of terror probe ...

The IDF on Monday announced it is exiting the Hebron neighborhood it has occupied since last weekend.

The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday that this might occur as early as this past weekend.

None of this was certain, and the situation was highly dynamic, since, to date, pre-elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the clear recommendation from IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir to leave the area and allow the at least 2,000 evacuated Palestinians to return to their homes.

But there was some increased expectation that Netanyahu might show more flexibility to IDF recommendations now that the election has passed and he feels in a stronger political position than expected.

The IDF occupied the area in response to last Friday morning’s deadly Hamas terrorist attack and noted that the terrorists were connected to a broader Hamas clan in the neighborhood in question, though the IDF never presented concrete evidence of how most of the 2,000 evacuees could be connected to any specific crime.

IDF recommended return of evacuated Palestinians last week

Already by Sunday-Monday of last week, the IDF was recommending that it allow the evacuated Palestinians to return, saying that it had inspected all of the relevant areas, and there was no clear military reason to remain.

The forced evacuations from Hebron appear to be different from other recent incidents.

Although in early 2025, Israel cleared areas of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur al-Shams in the West Bank, evacuating close to 40,000 Palestinians, those areas had experienced well-documented mass terror incidents dating back to early 2022.

The IDF carried out multiple temporary evacuations at that time and even sent in the Palestinian Authority to fight large and organized terror groups before undertaking the mass evacuation and destroying several structures in those areas.

In contrast, this time, the IDF provided little information about the offenses of the 2,000 evacuated Palestinians, other than to say that they were familially connected to the Hamas-linked Gaza clan.

While during the 2015-2016 stabbing intifada and in earlier years, Hebron had been one of the most violent and unstable areas – and there have been some terror incidents emanating from Hebron over the past three years of war – generally, it has not been one of the leading problem spots.

In addition, the IDF said it destroyed illegally built structures that could make security operations harder to carry out. However, the military was extremely vague about what those operations were and why entire buildings needed to be destroyed to carry them out.

Pressed about how many of the 2,000 hamula (“clan”) members have records linking them to terror (or at a minimum, to rock throwing), multiple IDF sources did not appear to have any specific information on the topic.

Rather, the operation seemed to be motivated by public statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz about clearing or destroying the neighborhood of the two men involved in the terror incident on Friday – apparently a collective punishment measure.

While Israel has placed closures on terror-emanating areas in the past, it has not carried out mass evacuations and building demolitions to such an extent without a specific connection to those being impacted.

Meanwhile, Adalah petitioned the High Court of Justice last Thursday on behalf of Hebron’s municipality and seven residents, seeking to halt what it described as forced evacuations and demolitions during an IDF operation, and secure the return of residents ordered out of their homes.

The petition asks for an immediate order barring further evacuations and the demolition of homes, businesses and other civilian buildings while the case is considered. It also seeks safe passage for medical teams, emergency vehicles and municipal workers, arguing that sweeping movement restrictions are cutting residents off from essential services.

Petition alleges troops seized homes, demolished civilian infrastructure

According to the petition, troops ordered families in the Ein Deir Baha and al-Jalda neighborhoods of western Hebron to leave their homes around 12:30-1 a.m. on the night of October 23-24. Orders were announced over loudspeakers, leaving residents insufficient time to prepare, the petitioners said.

Residents were told they could not return until further notice, without being given a timetable or conditions for their return, the petition alleges. It says some families spent the night outside and some residents were unable to take their vehicles with them.

Municipal figures cited in the petition put the number of families affected by the operation at 780, which could reach much higher than the original 2,000 estimate, up to 4,969 people, which itself was up from 488 families and 3,171 people earlier.

The petition alleges that troops took over some homes and turned them into military positions, while demolishing civilian buildings and requiring traders to remove goods from their businesses at short notice.

It says restrictions also affect residents who remain at home, hindering access to medical treatment and the movement of ambulances and emergency vehicles. According to the municipality’s figures cited in the filing, blocked access routes had prevented rubbish collection and left approximately 1,200 tons of waste accumulating across the city by Wednesday.

Adalah argues that the scale and open-ended nature of the evacuations violate international humanitarian law. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention permits temporary evacuation where civilian safety or imperative military reasons require it, and requires evacuees to be returned once hostilities in the area have ended.

The petitioners contend that no specific justification has been provided for evacuations on this scale. They argue that barring residents’ return indefinitely, while damaging or taking over their homes, risks making their displacement lasting.

They also invoke the convention’s prohibition on destroying property unless military operations make it absolutely necessary, arguing that a general reference to security needs cannot justify demolitions across residential neighborhoods.

The petition further alleges collective punishment, citing both the measures imposed on residents and statements by Israeli officials presenting the operation as a means of exacting a price for the shooting. The convention prohibits punishing protected civilians for offenses they did not personally commit.

Adalah said it approached the authorities on Sunday and sent a reminder the following day, but had received no substantive response by the time it filed the petition.

The case names the defense minister, the head of IDF Central Command, the military advocate-general and the attorney-general as respondents. Alongside an urgent hearing, the petitioners seek immediate protection against further evacuations and demolitions, followed by orders lifting the challenged restrictions and ensuring residents’ safe return.

Already on Sunday, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) demanded that displaced residents be allowed to return, movement restrictions be lifted, and demolitions carried out as punishment be halted. It also requested the orders authorizing the measures already taken.

It argued that public statements by ministers indicated a punitive purpose, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s description of demolitions as serving as deterrence and as exacting a price for the attack.

“No attack, however grave, gives the military license to punish an entire city,” ACRI executive director Noa Sattath said.

In an initial decision last Friday, Justice Gila Canfy Steinitz directed the state to respond and said she expected it to refrain from changing the existing situation or demolishing additional buildings, pending a further decision.