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The Israeli army has withdrawn from the occupied West Bank city of Hebron following a military operation launched after two soldiers were killed in an attack in late October, a military official said on Monday.
The operation forced thousands of residents to leave a neighbourhood where the two Palestinian attackers had lived. Residents were seen returning to their homes on Monday after Israeli troops pulled out.
“This morning, following the completion of all operational activities, the soldiers withdrew from the area of operation in Hebron. Counterterrorism activities throughout Judea and Samaria continue,” the military official said, using Israel’s biblical names for the occupied Palestinian territory.
On October 23, two Palestinian gunmen attacked an Israeli army checkpoint near Hebron, killing two soldiers. The incident took place days ahead of closely contested Israeli elections and prompted senior officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to promise a major retaliatory operation.
By the following morning, Israeli forces had evacuated residents from the attackers’ neighbourhood, displacing more than 3,000 people, according to the municipality.
The military official said troops had conducted extensive searches at several locations, detained and questioned suspects, and seized four weapons, several vests and other military equipment.
The forces also demolished the homes of the two attackers and sealed an underground space adjacent to one of the houses, the official added.
Muhannad al-Tamimi, whose house had been occupied by Israeli soldiers since the operation began, said his family returned to find their apartment ransacked.
Furniture and clothing were scattered across the floors, mattresses had been overturned and a child’s bicycle had been broken, he told media