The Israeli army announced on Monday that it had withdrawn its forces from the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, after a 10-day military operation, according to BBC News Arabic.
The operation followed an attack by two Palestinian gunmen on 23 October at an Israeli military checkpoint near Hebron. The attack killed two Israeli soldiers, and the two attackers were killed in an exchange of gunfire. After the attack, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz pledged to carry out a broad military operation against the area from which the two attackers came.
An Israeli military official said the soldiers withdrew after completing field activities, and that activities against what he called terrorism would continue in the West Bank. According to the same official, soldiers searched several sites, detained suspects, and seized four weapons, vests and military equipment. He added that soldiers demolished the homes of the two attackers and sealed an underground area next to one of them.
For its part, Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin told WAFA that Palestinian security forces had taken over responsibility for the area after the withdrawal. He added that the relevant authorities were preparing conditions for the return of families who had been forced to leave. Palestinian media outlets reported, citing local officials, that families had begun returning to their homes in neighbourhoods including Jalazone and Ein Deir Baha.
BBC correspondent reported that more than 3,300 Palestinians were forcibly displaced during the operation, and that a siege was imposed on more than 1,500 people over 10 days. She added that the operation included the demolition of 15 homes and facilities and the closure of more than 327 shops. At the start of the operation, the Hebron municipality had reported the displacement of at least 3,189 people, including 200 infants, after the army evacuated the neighbourhood where the two attackers had lived the day after the attack.
According to the report, the army imposed a tight closure, searched homes, seized some of them and used them as military positions, and forced residents of several neighbourhoods to leave. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, schools were closed and more than 80,000 students were prevented from attending during the operation. The correspondent also quoted the Palestinian Prisoners' Club as saying that the number of detainees from Hebron Governorate during the operation exceeded 115 Palestinians.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern about the use of force in an unnecessary and disproportionate manner. He warned that threats to evacuate and erase entire neighbourhoods raise fears of possible ethnic cleansing.
On the Israeli side, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir called for the operation to end by last Sunday, but Netanyahu insisted on its continuation.