780 families displaced as IDF weighs Hebron pullout

The Israel Defense Forces may reduce or end its occupation of a Hebron neighborhood by this weekend, according to information obtained by The Jerusalem Post. This potential shift follows the evacuation of at least 2,000 Palestinians from the area. The military presence began after a deadly Hamas-linked attack on Friday morning. While the situation remains fluid, expectations for a withdrawal have grown as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears more willing to align with military recommendations now that the recent election has passed.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir previously recommended allowing residents to return. He stated that inspections of the relevant areas found no clear military reason to remain. Despite this, Netanyahu initially rejected the move. However, sources indicate the political climate has shifted, potentially allowing for greater flexibility in decision-making.

The legal challenge to the operation has intensified with a petition filed by the organization Adalah on Thursday. Acting for the Hebron municipality and seven residents, Adalah seeks to halt forced evacuations and demolitions. The filing argues that troops ordered families in the Ein Deir Baha and al-Jalda neighborhoods to leave between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m. on October 23 and 24. Residents were told via loudspeakers and given no specific timetable for their return. Some families spent the night outside, while others could not retrieve their vehicles.

Municipal figures cited in the petition estimate that 780 families are currently affected. This number is up from an earlier count of 488 families and 3,171 people. The total number of displaced individuals could reach 4,969. The petition alleges that soldiers converted some homes into military positions and destroyed civilian buildings. It also claims that traders were forced to remove goods from businesses on short notice. By Wednesday, blocked access routes had prevented waste collection, leaving approximately 1,200 tons of refuse accumulating in the city.

Adalah contends that the scale of the operation violates international humanitarian law. Specifically, Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention requires the return of evacuees once hostilities end. The petition argues that barring residents indefinitely while their homes are damaged risks making the displacement permanent. The organization states that the military has not provided specific justification for the broad evacuations or demolitions.

The case names the defense minister, the head of IDF Central Command, the military advocate-general, and the attorney-general as respondents. Petitioners are seeking an urgent hearing and an immediate order to stop further evacuations. They also request safe passage for medical teams and municipal workers. Adalah noted that it approached authorities on Sunday and sent a reminder the following day but received no substantive response before filing.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel made similar demands earlier in the week. Noa Sattath, the organization's executive director, criticized the punitive nature of the measures. She noted that public statements by ministers, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, described the demolitions as a form of deterrence and a price to be paid for the attack. Sattath stated that no attack, however grave, gives the military license to punish an entire city.

Justice Gila Canfy Steinitz issued an initial decision last Friday. She directed the state to respond to the petition and expected it to refrain from changing the existing situation or demolishing additional buildings pending a further ruling. The military has destroyed illegally built structures in the area, claiming they impeded security operations, though it provided few details on why entire buildings were necessary to remove.