Nour al-Natsha knew there was a chance his home wouldn’t be in the best condition upon his return after 10 days of displacement.
asserted
home → know → displacement
Israeli forces had taken over Hebron’s al-Jalada neighbourhood on October 24, a day after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers nearby.
asserted
gunmen → take → soldiers
Al-Natsha’s family were given 20 minutes to leave, taking only their money, gold and important documents, and leaving behind most of their clothes, everyday belongings and family photographs.
asserted
family → give → clothes
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outbreak → promise → Park
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After hearing that Israeli forces had withdrawn, al-Natsha tentatively returned to check on the house on Monday.
asserted
Natsha → say → Monday
He found the doors wide open, and the house turned upside down.
asserted
house → find → ?
Belongings were missing, as well as his young daughter’s pet bird.
asserted
Belongings → miss → ?
“When we entered the house, it was a mixture of emotions,” the 35-year-old orthopaedic surgeon said.
asserted
surgeon → enter → emotions
“You couldn’t tell whether you were happy to be back home or heartbroken by what had happened to it.”
asserted
what → tell → it
The Israeli military operation in Hebron appears to be over – but al-Natsha and his family, and thousands of others in the city, are left to pick up the pieces.
asserted
Natsha → appear → pieces
Anxious return
Al-Natsha explained that families and neighbours had gathered on Sunday evening in the nearby Wadi al-Karm area, close to their homes, waiting until around midnight after reports emerged that the military operation had ended.
asserted
operation → explain → midnight
But seeing no signs of a withdrawal, they returned to their temporary accommodation, despite holding on to the hope of going home soon.
asserted
they → see → hope
Then, in the early hours of the morning, it was confirmed that the military had withdrawn.
asserted
military → confirm → morning
Al-Natsha decided to head towards the neighbourhood at around 6am.
asserted
Natsha → decide → am
There, he found several neighbours making their way home and waited for relatives to arrive before entering the area and inspecting their houses.
asserted
relatives → find → houses
Al-Natsha was initially accompanied by his father and two brothers as they inspected the property, looking for suspicious objects or potential hazards after finding the doors open.
asserted
doors → accompany → objects
Once they were satisfied that the house was safe, family members began cleaning and putting things back in order, removing belongings they feared might have been damaged or contaminated, in an effort to make the house habitable again and resume their daily lives.
uncertain
house → satisfy → lives
Her biggest concern was the fate of her pet bird, “Natosh”, which she had left inside the house when the family was forced to leave.
asserted
family → leave → house
Al-Natsha has no idea where the bird is, whether it is dead, or whether the Israeli soldiers released it.
asserted
soldiers → have → it
Ilya, meanwhile, keeps asking about her pet.
asserted
Ilya → keep → pet
The return of families to al-Jalada came after 10 days of military restrictions and evacuations affecting several neighbourhoods in Hebron.
asserted
return → come → Hebron
During the operation, hundreds of families were forced to leave their homes, while shops and institutions in the areas were closed.
asserted
shops → force → areas
According to previously released figures from the Hebron Governorate’s Support and Relief Committee, 537 families, comprising approximately 3,300 people, were displaced.
uncertain
families → accord → people
With residents now returning, the extent of the damage to homes and belongings, and the lasting effects of the days spent away, remain part of the experience of families trying to rebuild their lives.
asserted
extent → return → lives
For 68-year-old Khaled Shawer, who also lives in the neighbourhood, the damage to homes and the debris and destruction left behind by the military operation could be dealt with.
uncertain
damage → live → operation
What mattered most was that residents had returned and could begin to regain a sense of stability.
uncertain
residents → matter → stability
“Everything can be replaced: the destruction, the damage, the dirt, everything,” Shawer said.
asserted
Shawer → replace → ?
“But the most important thing is that we have returned to our homes, our paradise on Earth, the place where we find our psychological and physical stability.”
asserted
we → return → stability
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