Israeli Forces Withdraw From Hebron After 10-Day Siege as Displaced Families Begin Returning Home

Israeli forces have withdrawn from the entire city of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, ending a military operation that lasted more than ten days and forced thousands of Palestinian residents from their homes. The announcement came on Monday, November 2, 2026, from Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin, who said Palestinian security forces had taken full control of the area after the troops left.

Families who had been displaced during the operation can now return to their homes, according to the governor, who said local authorities were monitoring conditions on the ground and working to make the return as safe as possible. Residents began moving back on Monday morning, returning to neighbourhoods that had been closed off, searched and in some cases occupied during the operation.

The withdrawal closes a difficult chapter for a city that has lived through days of closures, checkpoints, demolished buildings and severe disruption to everyday life. It also opens a new and uncertain phase, in which families must assess damage to their homes, businesses must try to reopen, and schools and services must recover from days of interruption. The announcement marks the Hebron Israeli forces withdrawal November 2 2026, ending ten days of closures, displacement and damage across the city.

1. What Happened on Monday Morning

1.1 The Governor’s Announcement

Governor Khaled Dudin announced on Monday that Israeli forces had completed their withdrawal from the whole of Hebron. His statement was reported widely on November 2, and it was presented as a clear end point to an operation that had gripped the city since October 23. The governor said the withdrawal covered the entire city, not only selected neighbourhoods, and that the change of control was already in effect.

Dudin’s message carried two practical points for residents. First, Palestinian security forces had taken full control of the area following the departure of Israeli troops. Second, families who had been forced to leave their homes during the operation could now return. Those two points mattered because they answered the most urgent questions facing displaced people: who was now in charge of their streets, and whether it was safe enough to go home.

The announcement was also a signal to local institutions. Municipal teams, relief workers and security personnel could now move more freely, assess damage and begin the slow work of restoring services. For a city that had been under closure, that freedom of movement was itself a major change, even before any repair work began.

1.2 The 6 A.M. Withdrawal

Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jabari said the municipality had been told of the withdrawal at 6 a.m. on Monday, and that troops had left all city neighbourhoods by that hour. Residents then began returning to inspect their homes and assess the damage, a process that continued through the morning as families made their way back street by street.

The early-morning timing shaped the first hours of the return. People arrived in daylight to homes they had not seen for days, in some cases finding doors broken, belongings disturbed or buildings damaged. Others found their homes intact but their streets still marked by the operation, with debris, closed shops and damaged infrastructure around them.

For local authorities, the 6 a.m. marker provided a reference point for everything that followed. Damage surveys, relief distributions and security patrols could all be dated from that moment. For families, it marked the first morning in more than ten days when movement through their own city was no longer governed by a military closure.

2. How the Ten Days Began

2.1 The October 23 Checkpoint Attack

The operation began on October 23, following a shooting attack at the Farsh al-Hawa military checkpoint at Hebron’s northern entrance. Two Palestinians carried out the attack, according to reports of the incident, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding three others. Israeli forces later killed the two attackers.

The checkpoint attack set the operation in motion. It was a serious and deadly incident, and the Israeli military response that followed was large, sustained and city-wide. Within hours, the focus shifted from a single checkpoint to a broad operation across Hebron and its surrounding villages, with closures imposed and troops deployed in residential areas.

Understanding that starting point matters because it explains why the operation began, even though it does not by itself explain its scale or its duration. The days that followed affected thousands of people who had no connection to the attack, and the debate since has centred on whether the breadth and length of the response matched the incident that triggered it.

2.2 The Operation That Followed

After October 23, Israeli forces imposed closures on Hebron and surrounding villages and carried out a sustained operation across the city. Troops moved through residential neighbourhoods, seized homes in some areas and converted them into military posts, and restricted movement for residents trying to reach work, school, medical care or family.

Reports of the operation describe a pattern that repeated across the ten days: closures that cut neighbourhoods off from one another, searches and patrols inside residential areas, and a heavy military presence in streets that are normally crowded with shoppers, students and workers. The operation was not confined to one district. It reached across the city and into nearby villages, widening its impact day by day.

By the time the withdrawal was announced, the operation had become one of the most disruptive episodes Hebron had experienced in recent years. Its length, more than ten days, meant that the disruption was not a single difficult day but a prolonged period in which normal life was suspended for a large part of the city’s population.

3. Life Inside the Closure

3.1 Homes Turned Into Military Posts

One of the most striking features of the operation was the seizure of Palestinian homes and their conversion into military posts. Reports say Israeli forces seized homes in the Al-Jalda and Ein Deir Baha areas and used them as positions from which to operate. The Hebron Municipality and other local accounts put the number of homes and residential units used in this way at around 540, a figure that, if confirmed, would mean hundreds of families lost the use of their homes even when the buildings themselves were not demolished.

Living through such a seizure is profoundly disruptive. Families are forced out at short notice, often with little chance to collect belongings, and they must find shelter with relatives, neighbours or relief organisations. When they return, they may find furniture moved, doors damaged and personal space altered by days of military use. The psychological effect of that intrusion can last long after the troops have left.

Local officials have treated this issue as central to the relief effort. Families whose homes were occupied need not only a return date but also help to repair damage, replace broken items and restore a sense of safety in their own rooms. That work is only beginning now that the withdrawal has taken place.

3.2 Closures Across Neighbourhoods and Villages

The closures imposed during the operation affected Hebron itself and villages around it. Roads were restricted, movement between neighbourhoods was controlled, and residents found it difficult or impossible to travel for work, education, health care or basic shopping. Over ten days, those restrictions accumulated into a severe interruption of daily life.

Closures of this kind hit hardest at the routines people depend on. Workers cannot reach jobs, shopkeepers cannot open stores, students cannot attend classes, and patients cannot easily reach clinics. Food, medicine and other essentials become harder to obtain, not because they have run out, but because the roads to reach them are blocked or unsafe to travel.

The breadth of the closures also explains why the economic and social impact spread so widely. Even residents whose homes were not seized or demolished felt the operation through closed streets, cancelled plans and lost income. The withdrawal therefore matters not only to the displaced, but to the whole city, whose movement is now being restored.

4. The Human Cost in Numbers

4.1 How Many People Were Displaced

Different local bodies have reported different figures for how many people were displaced or otherwise affected, and that difference itself is important. The Hebron Governorate said more than 3,300 Palestinians were displaced or otherwise affected, particularly in Al-Jalda and Ein Deir Baha. The Hebron Municipality reported a higher figure, saying 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families were displaced during the operation. Another local account put the figure at 537 displaced families comprising 3,361 people.

These figures do not necessarily contradict one another. They may reflect different counting methods, different dates, or different definitions of who counts as displaced versus affected. One count may include only people who left their homes, while another may include people whose movement, work or schooling was disrupted even if they stayed. Until a single consolidated survey is published, the safest reading is that thousands of people, and hundreds of families, were affected.

What is not in doubt is the scale. Whether the true total is closer to 3,300 or close to 5,000, the operation displaced a large share of the population in the affected neighbourhoods. Behind each number is a family that spent days away from home, often in crowded or uncertain conditions, waiting for news of when they could return.

4.2 Homes Demolished and Buildings Damaged

The Hebron Governorate reported that 15 homes and other structures were demolished during the operation. That figure covers buildings that were destroyed, not buildings that were damaged, occupied or searched. It therefore represents only one part of the physical destruction, and the full picture will only emerge as municipal survey teams inspect neighbourhoods in the days ahead.

Demolition carries a different weight from temporary displacement. A family whose home is demolished does not simply return on the day of withdrawal. They face weeks or months without a home, dependent on relatives, rented accommodation or relief support, while decisions are made about rebuilding, compensation and temporary shelter. For those families, Monday’s withdrawal is a beginning, not an end.

Beyond demolitions, reports describe widespread damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. Doors, windows, walls, water systems and electrical connections may all need repair. Shops that were closed for ten days may need restocking and cleaning. A complete damage assessment will take time, and early figures are likely to be revised as more areas are surveyed.

5. The Economic Blow to Hebron

5.1 Daily Losses Reported by the Mayor

Hebron’s economy suffered heavily during the closure. Mayor Youssef al-Jabari told Al Jazeera on October 31 that the siege had caused daily economic losses of more than 12 million shekels, equivalent to about 3.8 million dollars. Over ten days, losses on that scale would amount to a very large sum for a single city, even allowing for the fact that daily losses may have varied from day to day.

The mayor’s figure is a reported estimate, not an audited total, and it should be read as an indication of severity rather than a precise accounting. Even so, it points to the scale of the shock. A city that loses millions of dollars of economic activity every day for more than a week faces consequences that ripple far beyond the closure itself, affecting wages, savings, debts and future investment.

Local traders and workers will now have to absorb those losses. Some may have reserves to draw on, but many small businesses operate on thin margins and cannot easily survive ten days without income. The recovery of Hebron’s economy will therefore depend not only on the lifting of closures, but on whether customers return, supply chains reopen and confidence slowly rebuilds.

5.2 Businesses, Markets and Daily Work

Hebron is a commercial centre for its region, with markets, workshops and shops that serve residents and visitors from surrounding towns and villages. When closures cut off movement, that commercial life stops. Customers cannot reach markets, deliveries cannot arrive, and workers cannot reach their posts. Shops stay shuttered, stalls stay empty and daily earnings disappear.

The effect is uneven. A shopkeeper who depends on daily sales loses income immediately. A worker paid by the day loses wages for every day missed. A family that depends on a single earner may quickly face difficulty paying for food, medicine or rent. Over ten days, those individual losses add up to a city-wide strain that affects households across income levels.

Reopening is not instantaneous either. A shop that has been closed for ten days may need cleaning, restocking and repairs before it can trade normally. Suppliers may need time to resume deliveries. Customers may return cautiously at first. The withdrawal removes the barrier, but the economic recovery will be gradual, and some businesses may not survive the gap.

6. Schools, Services and Infrastructure

6.1 Education Disrupted

Education across the affected areas was disrupted during the operation, according to the Hebron Governorate. Schools in closed neighbourhoods could not operate normally, students could not travel safely to classes, and teaching was interrupted for days. For children already living through a frightening period, the loss of school routine added another layer of disruption.

School disruption matters beyond missed lessons. Schools provide structure, safety and social contact for children, and their closure can increase anxiety and isolation. Teachers, too, face the challenge of helping students catch up after days away, while also supporting children who may have experienced displacement, damage to their homes or fear during the operation.

Reopening schools will be one of the early tests of recovery. It requires safe roads, functioning buildings, available staff and confidence among parents that travel to school is safe. Local authorities will need to confirm which schools can reopen immediately and which need repairs or additional support before students return.

6.2 Damage to Infrastructure and Services

Reports also describe damage to infrastructure and the local economy, alongside disruption to services. Roads, water systems, electricity networks and other essential infrastructure can all be affected by a sustained military operation, whether through direct damage, restricted access for repair crews or the sheer strain of ten days without normal maintenance.

Infrastructure damage is often less visible than a demolished home, but it affects everyone. A damaged water pipe, a broken power connection or a blocked road can disrupt whole streets. Repair crews need access, materials and time, and they must prioritise the most urgent faults first. Residents may therefore experience uneven recovery, with some streets restored quickly and others waiting longer.

Services beyond infrastructure were also affected. Municipal offices, health facilities and relief organisations all operated under difficult conditions during the closure. Their ability to resume normal work now depends on staff being able to travel, buildings being safe to use and supplies being available. The withdrawal is a necessary step, but restoring services will take coordinated effort in the days ahead.

7. The Return Home

7.1 Palestinian Security Forces Take Control

Governor Dudin said Palestinian security forces had taken full control of the area following the Israeli withdrawal. That statement was central to the announcement, because it addressed the question of who would maintain order and safety as families returned. Local security personnel are now responsible for patrolling streets, monitoring conditions and supporting the return process.

The governor added that relevant authorities were monitoring developments and working to ensure conditions for a safe return. That monitoring role is important in the first days after a withdrawal, when uncertainty remains high. Residents need to know whether roads are open, whether any areas remain unsafe and whom to contact if they encounter damage, unexploded hazards or other dangers in or around their homes.

For many families, the presence of familiar local forces, rather than foreign troops, changes the atmosphere of return. It does not erase the damage or the fear of the past ten days, but it restores a sense of local control over streets and neighbourhoods. How that control is exercised in the coming days will shape whether residents feel secure enough to stay.

7.2 Help for Families Who Cannot Return Yet

Not every family can return immediately. Some homes were demolished, others were damaged or occupied and need repair, and some families may need temporary accommodation while work is carried out. A support committee comprising civil society organisations, local and international institutions, ministries and security agencies is working to provide assistance to families who left their homes and to secure safe accommodation for those unable to stay with relatives.

That committee’s work will be critical in the coming weeks. It must identify which families need housing, which need financial help and which need practical support such as food, clothing or medical care. It must also coordinate between different organisations so that help reaches people quickly and fairly, without duplication or gaps.

The existence of such a committee shows that local institutions anticipated a difficult return. It also shows that recovery is understood as a collective task, involving government, civil society and international partners. For families with nowhere to go on Monday night, that support may matter more than any announcement about withdrawal itself.

8. Questions Still Unanswered

8.1 What Remains Unverified

Several important questions remain unanswered. The exact number of people displaced has not been settled, with local figures ranging from more than 3,300 to almost 5,000. The full extent of damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure has not yet been surveyed. The precise daily economic losses, and the total cost of the ten days, have been estimated but not audited.

Other questions concern the operation itself. No detailed Israeli military statement about the withdrawal, the full scope of the operation or the criteria for its end was included in the reports summarised here. Whether closures in surrounding villages have been fully lifted, whether all seized homes have been vacated, and when schools and services will fully resume are all points that require confirmation from local authorities in the coming days.

These gaps do not diminish the significance of the withdrawal, but they do mean the story is incomplete. Readers should treat early figures as reported estimates from local bodies, subject to revision as surveys are completed and official statements are issued. A careful account distinguishes between what has been announced and what has been independently verified.

8.2 What to Watch in the Coming Days

In the coming days, attention will turn to the pace and fairness of the return. Observers will watch whether all displaced families are able to go home, how quickly damaged homes are repaired, and whether temporary accommodation is provided for those whose homes were demolished. They will also watch whether markets reopen, whether workers can reach jobs and whether schools resume normal teaching.

Attention will also turn to the wider context. Hebron’s experience will be read alongside developments elsewhere in the West Bank, where closures, operations and displacement have affected many communities. Whether the withdrawal leads to a sustained period of calm, or whether tensions return, will depend on events that have not yet unfolded and on decisions by authorities on all sides.

For now, the clearest fact is the one announced on Monday: after more than ten days, Israeli forces have left Hebron, Palestinian security forces have taken control, and families are returning home. What happens next, for those families and for the city as a whole, will be determined by the repair, relief and recovery work that begins now. Questions still unanswered include the final displaced total, the full damage survey, the audited economic cost, the full lifting of village closures, and the timeline for schools and services to return to normal.

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