Israeli army withdraws from West Bank’s Hebron after 4-day operation

The Israeli army withdrew late Thursday night from the southern neighborhood of Hebron in the occupied West Bank after a four-day military operation that included arrests, home searches and damage to property, eyewitnesses said.

Residents poured into the streets after the troops left, expressing relief after days of tight closures and restrictions, witnesses told Anadolu.

During the operation, Israeli forces detained at least 10 Palestinians and conducted on-site interrogations of dozens more after raiding and searching their homes, local sources said.

Troops also closed main and secondary roads and damaged several vehicles, the sources added.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that the army ended its operation in Hebron after searching 350 homes and arresting 14 Palestinians.

Families in southern Hebron called for maintaining community unity and social cohesion, describing it as the strongest means of confronting occupation policies and targeting efforts, according to a statement.

The families praised journalists and media crews for what they described as professional and responsible coverage during the siege and closures, saying the reporting helped convey events on the ground and expose what they called collective punishment policies.

They said independent media coverage challenged the Israeli narrative and highlighted residents' suffering without exaggeration or political exploitation, the statement added.

The Israeli army announced Monday that it had launched a military operation in Hebron expected to last several days, involving the Shin Bet internal security agency and Border Police units. The army said the operation focused on the Jabal Jawhar area in the southern part of the city.

The military said it acted on what it described as security assessments pointing to an increase in armed activity, escalating clan disputes and the spread of illegal weapons.

Videos circulated on social media during the operation showed Israeli forces detaining Palestinians and raiding homes in southern Hebron.

The operation took place in Hebron's H2 area, which remains under full Israeli control under the 1997 Hebron Protocol between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The agreement divided the city into H1, administered by the Palestinian Authority, and H2, which includes the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has intensified military operations and settler attacks across the West Bank, including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion.

At least 1,107 Palestinians have been killed, nearly 11,000 wounded and more than 21,000 arrested in the West Bank during that period, according to official Palestinian figures.