Nour al-Natsha Finds Home Upside Down After Ten-Day Eviction in Hebron

Nour al-Natsha, a 35-year-old orthopaedic surgeon, returned to his home in Hebron's al-Jalada neighbourhood on Monday morning to find the doors wide open and the interior turned inside out. He had been displaced for ten days following an Israeli military operation that began on October 24. The forces gave his family only 20 minutes to leave, prompting them to take just their money, gold, and essential documents. They left behind most of their clothes, daily items, and family photographs.

Al-Natsha said the experience of re-entering the house brought a mix of emotions. "You couldn't tell whether you were happy to be back home or heartbroken by what had happened to it," he noted. The military operation in the area appears to have concluded, leaving al-Natsha and thousands of other residents to assess the damage and restore their living spaces.

The return process was marked by uncertainty for many families. Neighbours gathered in the nearby Wadi al-Karm area on Sunday evening, waiting until midnight for reports of a withdrawal. When no signs of a pullback appeared, they went back to their temporary lodging. It was not until the early hours of Monday that the withdrawal was confirmed. Al-Natsha set out at 6 a.m. and joined other residents making their way back to the neighbourhood.

Before entering his property, al-Natsha was joined by his father and two brothers to check for suspicious objects or hazards. Once they deemed the house safe, family members began cleaning and rearranging items. They removed belongings they feared were damaged or contaminated, working to make the home habitable again.

The disruption hit the household of al-Natsha’s four-year-old daughter, Ilya, particularly hard. Her main concern is the fate of her pet bird, Natosh, which she left inside during the evacuation. Al-Natsha does not know if the bird is dead or was released by soldiers. Ilya continues to ask about the animal.

The Hebron Governorate’s Support and Relief Committee stated that 537 families, comprising roughly 3,300 people, were displaced during the operation. Shops and institutions in the affected areas were closed for the duration of the restrictions.

Khaled Shawer, a 68-year-old resident of the same neighbourhood, said the physical damage to homes is manageable compared to the psychological relief of returning. "Everything can be replaced: the destruction, the damage, the dirt, everything," Shawer said. He described their homes as a paradise on Earth where residents find their physical and mental stability.