Israel ends its 11-day Hebron operation — thousands of displaced residents begin returning to searched and demolished homes
Israeli troops withdrew on Monday morning from the Hebron neighbourhoods they had emptied and searched for 11 days, ending the operation launched after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the city on 23 October. Hebron's governor Khaled Dudin said Palestinian security forces were back in full control and displaced families could return; AFP journalists saw residents coming back to homes that had been searched, occupied and in some cases trashed, with the two attackers' homes demolished. The Palestinian news agency WAFA puts the displaced at more than 3,300; the Israeli military says its searches of hundreds of buildings detained dozens of suspects and seized four firearms.
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Key points
- Israeli troops withdrew from Hebron on Monday morning after 11 days; the military says all operational activities are complete, and Governor Khaled Dudin says Palestinian security forces are back in full control (AFP; Times of Israel; Al Jazeera).
- The operation began after the 23 October checkpoint attack in which Mohammad and Firas Jaaba killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three, and were shot dead; the attackers' homes were demolished.
- WAFA and Hebron's authorities put the displaced at more than 3,300, with 15 homes demolished, hundreds of businesses shut and some 80,000 students out of school for ten days.
- The military's own yield: dozens detained for questioning and four firearms seized after searching hundreds of buildings. The army chief had recommended ending the operation two days in; it ended on Defence Minister Katz's approval on Sunday night, after the election (Times of Israel).
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Video: Al Jazeera English · Watch on YouTube
What happened
Hebron is the West Bank's largest city, and the operation emptied the attackers' neighbourhood in the west of the city — Al-Jalda and Ein Deir Baha, in the municipality's account — from the morning after the attack, while closures and checkpoints gripped the wider governorate of about 800,000 people. Families were given minutes to gather medicine, phones and documents, residents told Al Jazeera.
The return began within minutes of the governor's announcement on Monday: vehicles carrying displaced families arrived, municipal workers started clearing up, and schoolchildren went back to school for the first time in ten days — to homes that in many cases had been searched, marked with black X's, occupied, or demolished.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · The Israeli military
- The operation is complete: after searches of multiple locations, suspects were detained and questioned, and four weapons, vests and other military equipment were seized; the attackers' homes were demolished and an underground space beside one of them sealed.
- Counterterrorism operations across the West Bank continue, the military official said on the withdrawal.
Side B · Hebron's governor, municipality and residents
- More than 3,300 people were displaced or affected, 15 homes and other structures demolished, hundreds of businesses shut and some 80,000 students kept from school for ten days, with daily economic losses above 12 million shekels, the governorate and municipality say.
- Residents returning on Monday found homes searched and trashed; one man told AFP soldiers had occupied his house, put a gun to his wife's head and terrified his children — allegations the military said it was looking into.
Independently verified
Israeli troops withdrew on Monday morning, 2 November 2026, from the Hebron area they had operated in for 11 days; a military official said: 'This morning, following the completion of all operational activities, the soldiers withdrew from the area of operation in Hebron,' adding that counterterrorism activities across the West Bank continue. Hebron governor Khaled Dudin said Palestinian security forces had taken full control and displaced families could return, and AFP journalists witnessed residents returning to their homes. The operation followed the 23 October 2026 attack in which two Hebron residents, Mohammad Jaaba and Firas Jaaba, shot dead two Israeli soldiers — Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem — and wounded three others at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Hebron, before being shot dead themselves. The military then cleared the attackers' neighbourhood, demolished structures near the checkpoint, and later demolished the two attackers' homes. More than 3,300 Palestinians were displaced by the operation, according to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority's news agency, and the Hebron municipality and governorate, which also report 15 homes and other structures demolished, more than 300 businesses forced to close, about 80,000 students unable to attend school for ten days, and direct daily economic losses above 12 million shekels (about $3.8 million). The Israeli military says its forces searched hundreds of buildings, detained dozens of suspects for questioning, and seized four firearms, several vests and additional military equipment; it also demolished the attackers' homes and sealed an underground space next to one of them. The operation's length was a political decision as much as a military one: IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two days after it began that there was no operational reason to continue it and no legal rationale for keeping residents from their homes, and recommended ending it — Netanyahu rejected the recommendation — and Defence Minister Israel Katz gave the approval to end the raid only on Sunday night, after last week's election.Not yet verified
A returning resident, Muhannad al-Tamimi, told AFP that soldiers stormed and occupied his home, blew up its door, assaulted him, put a gun to his wife's head, terrified his children, and stole gold and money; other returnees found homes trashed, with furniture and clothing strewn and a child's bicycle broken. The General Union of Palestinian Teachers said in a statement on Sunday, carried by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, that nearly 80,000 students missed school last week because of the military closures around Hebron: 220 public, private and UN-run schools in the central Hebron education district were disrupted, and the union put the number of families forced from their homes at 537. The union also said Israeli forces detained 10 teachers from Jinba Basic Mixed School for several hours on Sunday on a road in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, and impounded their vehicle.Claim by claim
Why this label: The withdrawal itself is confirmed from both directions: the Israeli military official's confirmation reported by AFP (read in full in this pass) and by the Times of Israel (read in full), and Governor Dudin's announcement reported by Al Jazeera. AFP saw the return with its own journalists on the ground.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The attack, the soldiers' names and the sequence are reported identically by the Times of Israel (read in full) and AFP (read in full). The home demolitions are stated by both; AFP describes the practice as one the military commonly carries out as punishment for attacks.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Verified as the Palestinian authorities' own figures, attributed to them in every report read in this pass: WAFA is the Times of Israel's source for the 3,300 figure; the municipality/governorate figures (15 homes, business closures, students, losses) are carried by Al Jazeera's reporting of the governor and mayor and by Demócrata's report of WAFA and the city council. AFP's municipality figure is 'more than 3,000' displaced — the same count at an earlier rounding. These are the local authorities' tallies; no independent damage assessment had been published when this page was written.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (4 more)
Why this label: The military's own account, given by a military official to AFP (read in full) and reported by the Times of Israel (read in full), which notes the yield — four firearms — came after scanning hundreds of buildings. One Israeli news summary put the firearms at three; the military official's figure of four, quoted by AFP, is the one carried here, and the gap is noted in the don't-know list.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Reported by the Times of Israel (read in full in this pass), whose account of the Zamir recommendation and the Sunday-night Katz approval is its own reporting of the decision chain; the Jerusalem Post's earlier reporting of Zamir's recommendation, carried in search in this pass, agrees. Katz and Netanyahu had earlier vowed to 'destroy' the attackers' neighbourhood; the Times of Israel notes the raid as carried out was significantly more limited than those vows.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: These are residents' allegations, reported by AFP from its own interviews on the ground; AFP put the theft and assault allegations to the military, which said it was looking into them. No finding had been published when this page was written, so the allegations are carried as allegations, labelled Not yet verified.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: The union's own figures, from its own Sunday statement — carried by Arab News on Monday (queue #996) and by Anadolu's report of the same statement. They are the union's count, not an independently verified tally: no UN or Palestinian education-ministry count of the schooling impact has been read for this page, so the claim is labelled Not yet verified and attributed throughout. The 537-families figure is a different unit from the municipality/WAFA displacement figure already on this page (more than 3,300 people) and the two are not added together.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That the operation has ended and the troops have withdrawn — confirmed by the Israeli military, the Hebron governor, and AFP journalists who watched residents return.
- Why it began (the 23 October checkpoint attack and its dead), what the military says it did and seized, and what Hebron's own authorities say it cost in displacement, demolitions and closures — each side's figures attributed to that side.
What we don't know yet
- The exact number of homes and structures demolished in total: the governorate says 15 homes and other structures; the military confirms the attackers' two homes and structures near the checkpoint, and gives no overall total.
- Whether the residents' allegations of assault and theft in occupied homes are upheld — the military says it is looking into them.
- One Israeli news summary put the seized firearms at three, against the military official's four quoted by AFP; the exact detention count is also unpublished — 'dozens' is all the military has said.
Show more (2)
- What happens to the Adalah High Court petition filed for the municipality and seven residents against the evacuations and demolitions, now that the operation has ended.
- The schooling toll's exact scale — the teachers' union's nearly 80,000 students and 220 schools figures have not been independently counted by the UN or the Palestinian education ministry in any report read for this page.
Why it matters
An 11-day emptying of neighbourhoods in the West Bank's largest city — launched days before an Israeli election, kept going for nine days after the army chief said there was no operational reason for it, and ended the night after that election — is now the template both sides will argue from: the military calls it a completed counterterrorism operation that found four firearms; Hebron's authorities call it collective punishment that displaced 3,300 people. The residents returning to searched and demolished homes are living with the answer either way.
Background
Show the background timeline (5)
Two Hebron residents shoot dead two Israeli soldiers and wound three at a checkpoint on the city's outskirts; both attackers are shot dead. The military begins demolitions near the checkpoint and clears the attackers' neighbourhood the next morning (Times of Israel; AFP).
IDF Chief of Staff Zamir recommends ending the operation and letting residents return, two days after it began; Netanyahu rejects the recommendation (Times of Israel).
The attackers' two houses are demolished with explosives (Times of Israel photo record).
Defence Minister Katz approves ending the raid on Sunday night, after last week's Israeli election (Times of Israel).
Troops withdraw in the morning; Governor Dudin announces Palestinian security forces are in full control and residents begin returning (AFP; Al Jazeera).
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Checking in progress — the teachers' union's schooling toll appended (queue #996), and an official video attached. The General Union of Palestinian Teachers said nearly 80,000 students missed school last week as 220 schools in the central Hebron education district were disrupted and 537 families were forced from their homes (its Sunday statement via WAFA, carried by Arab News and by Anadolu). The figures are the union's own and are labelled Not yet verified on this page. Arab News also reported displaced families returning and schools, universities and businesses reopening on Monday after the withdrawal (queue #998) — the return itself is already this page's lead fact. Video: Al Jazeera English's report of the withdrawal, verified via YouTube oEmbed (HTTP 200) in this run, is now embedded.
Story published in Checking state (queue #908/#918; the siege itself was queue #806). Basis: AFP read in full, the Times of Israel read in full via live browser, and Al Jazeera's governor/mayor account. The withdrawal is verified from both sides; each side's figures are attributed to that side, and residents' allegations are labelled Not yet verified.