Israeli forces have withdrawn from Hebron after a 10-day military siege that began October 23, triggered by a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers. Governor Khaled Dudin announced Monday that Palestinian security forces have retaken control and that displaced families may return. The operation's footprint tells the structural story. The siege imposed full closures on Hebron and surrounding villages, seized Palestinian homes and converted them into military posts, demolished 15 homes and other structures, damaged commercial properties and infrastructure, and disrupted education across the area. More than 3,300 Palestinians were displaced or otherwise affected, with the worst impact concentrated in Al-Jalda and Ein Deir Baha. The triggering event — a shooting by two Palestinians who were subsequently killed — produced a collective response wildly disproportionate to the initial attack. Two soldiers killed; 3,300 civilians displaced. Two attackers eliminated on the day; ten days of siege, demolitions, and forced displacement followed. The math is the message. This is the standard Israeli operational template in the occupied West Bank: a security incident provides the justification, collective punishment provides the mechanism, and infrastructure destruction provides the lasting effect. Homes become military posts. Commercial properties become rubble. The economic damage lingers long after the soldiers leave. The Hebron Governorate's accounting of economic losses — described as running into the millions — underscores that these operations function as economic warfare against civilian populations. Closures sever labor markets, supply chains, and commercial activity. When the siege lifts, the damage to livelihoods remains. Governor Dudin's framing — "working to provide the necessary conditions for residents to return safely" — reveals the absurdity of the situation. The Palestinian Authority is managing the aftermath of destruction it had no power to prevent, providing governance theater over territory it does not control. The withdrawal is not resolution. It is a pause. Hebron, home to roughly 215,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers protected by a massive military presence, exists in a permanent state of potential siege. The infrastructure is weaker, the homes are fewer, and the next triggering event is a matter of when, not if.
