IDF Announces Withdrawal from Hebron Neighborhood Amid Legal Challenge

The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday that it will withdraw from a Hebron neighborhood it entered last weekend following a terror attack. The move comes as the military faces a petition filed in the High Court of Justice by the human-rights organization Adalah on behalf of the municipality and several residents.

The petition alleges that troops ordered families in the Ein Deir Baha and al-Jalda neighborhoods to leave their homes in the early hours of Oct. 23-24, seized some houses for military use, and demolished civilian structures. It requests an immediate halt to further evacuations and demolitions, safe passage for medical and emergency services, and the return of displaced residents.

According to municipal figures cited in the filing, up to 780 families—potentially as many as 4,969 people—have been affected. The petition argues that the scale of the operation violates international humanitarian law, specifically Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which permits temporary evacuation only when civilian safety or imperative military reasons require it and mandates the return of evacuees once hostilities end.

The IDF had earlier recommended that evacuated Palestinians be allowed to return after inspecting the area and finding no clear military necessity for a continued presence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have previously spoken about clearing the neighborhood in response to the attack.

Human-rights groups, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, have called for the immediate return of displaced residents, the lifting of movement restrictions, and an end to demolitions deemed punitive. The petition names the defense minister, the head of IDF Central Command, the military advocate-general and the attorney-general as respondents and seeks urgent court protection against further actions.