Image source: Reuters
The Israeli army announced, on Monday, the withdrawal of its forces from the city of Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, following the end of a ten-day security and military operation, following an attack carried out by two Palestinians that led to the death of two Israeli soldiers.
It was reported that more than three thousand Palestinians were displaced during the operation in which Israeli forces imposed a siege on the city of Hebron and its surrounding areas, as part of operations that they said were aimed at tracking down the gunmen responsible for the attack.
Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin told the Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) that the Israeli forces withdrew from the city, stressing that the Palestinian security services assumed responsibility for the area after the withdrawal, and that the competent authorities are working to create the necessary conditions for the return of families who were forced to leave their homes.
Palestinian media reported, quoting local officials, that families had already begun returning to their homes in the neighborhoods of Al-Jalda, Ain Deir Bahha and other areas, after days of closure and strict military restrictions.
A military official told Agence France-Presse: “This morning, after completing all field activities, the soldiers withdrew from the military campaign area in Hebron, and activities aimed at combating terrorism will continue in various parts” of the West Bank, using the biblical name “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the Palestinian territories.
How did the military operation begin?
On October 23, days before the hotly contested Israeli elections, two Palestinian gunmen carried out an attack at an Israeli military checkpoint near Hebron, which led to the death of two Israeli soldiers. The two perpetrators were killed in an exchange of fire.
Following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz pledged to carry out a large-scale military operation against the region from which the perpetrators of the attack hailed.
The Israeli army imposed a strict closure on parts of Hebron and the surrounding villages, carried out extensive searches of homes and buildings, seized some homes and used them as military sites, and forced neighborhood residents to leave their homes.
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The day after the attack, the Israeli army evacuated the neighborhood where the two perpetrators were staying, and at least 3,189 people were displaced, including 200 infants, according to what the city municipality said at the time.
According to the military official, "The soldiers carried out careful searches in several locations, arrested suspects and subjected them to investigation. They also found and confiscated four weapons, along with a number of jackets and additional military equipment."
He added that the forces demolished the homes of the perpetrators of the attack, which is a punitive measure taken by the Israeli forces in response to the attacks, and they also “closed an underground space located next to one of the two homes.”
“There is no justification for waves of displacement.”
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In her description of the field scene following the Israeli withdrawal, Iman Erekat, a BBC correspondent in Hebron, said that the road to the city witnessed stifling traffic jams, especially at the military checkpoints surrounding it and its entrances, noting that conditions seemed more difficult inside the neighborhoods that witnessed an intense deployment of Israeli forces, especially the Al-Jalda neighborhood.
Erekat added that "a state of chaos and panic continues to dominate the Palestinian street," following the forced displacement of more than 3,300 Palestinians over a period of ten days, in addition to the imposition of a siege on more than 1,500 Palestinians.
She explained that the Israeli military operation included the demolition of 15 homes and facilities using bulldozers, and the closure of more than 327 stores and shops over the past ten days, in addition to stopping the educational process, which deprived more than 80,000 students, both male and female, from enrolling in their schools, which closed their doors to spare them the dangers of the operation, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
The BBC correspondent said that the common denominator in the testimonies of the residents she spoke to in Hebron was their confirmation that there was no justification for the evacuation of hundreds of families from their homes, noting that a number of homes had been converted into military barracks for the Israeli forces, and Israeli flags were raised over them in abundance, in conjunction with conducting field investigations and carrying out arrests in the city.
In a related context, Erekat reported from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club that the number of detainees from various parts of Hebron Governorate exceeded 115 Palestinians during the military operation.
Despite the scale of displacement and the pressures that families were exposed to, Erekat pointed out that social solidarity was one of the most prominent features that distinguished the city’s residents’ response to the crisis, explaining that the displaced families did not leave for distant shelter centers, but rather took refuge in the homes of relatives and friends, despite the opening of halls to receive families who were forced to leave their homes.
International criticism and warnings
The operation raised criticism and human rights concerns against the backdrop of the scale of displacement, restrictions imposed on residents, and the demolition of homes.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, had expressed his concern about the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, warning that threats to evacuate and erase entire neighborhoods raise serious concerns about the possibility of ethnic cleansing.
The evictions of residents and demolitions of property also raised questions about the extent to which the measures taken were compatible with the rules of international humanitarian law, in particular the rules related to the protection of civilians and civilian property in occupied territories.
The operation in Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, caused a dispute between the army chief of staff and the political leadership regarding its duration.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported at the time that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir called, during an assessment of the situation, for the operation to end by last Sunday after the completion of inspections, but Netanyahu insisted on its continuation.
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