In a rare attack at an Israeli-controlled crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, a gunman killed three Israeli workers on Sunday before being shot dead, the Israeli military said.
The Allenby Bridge border crossing, also known as the King Hussein Crossing, is the only crossing with Jordan leading to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near the desert city of Jericho. Other border crossings to the north and south connect to Israel proper; all three land crossings were temporarily closed after the attack.
Jordan is at peace with Israel, but relations have been strained since the 11-month war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out in the Gaza Strip. Jordan, which is predominantly Palestinian, has vehemently denounced Israel's conduct in the war, which has killed some 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.
Much of the enclave lies in ruins and most of its 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced, many of them repeatedly.
Israel is also engaged in a low-intensity conflict on its northern border with the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The two sides exchange fire almost daily and thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes on both sides of the border. On Sunday, sirens sounded again in northern Israel and the military said it intercepted dozens of rockets fired from Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the bridge attack an act of terror and linked it to a broader regional conflict.
“We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran's axis of evil,” he said at the start of a government meeting.
The Israeli military did not identify the gunman, who arrived by truck at the crossing and opened fire, apparently at Israeli security forces, the military statement said. Israeli media reports cited officials as saying the shooter was a Jordanian national.
The slain Israeli men, all in their 50s, were forklift operators, according to Israel's airport authority, which oversees the country's borders.
Jordan's Interior Ministry said it was investigating the attack, according to the state-run Petra news agency. Hamas, which has urged militants in neighbouring countries to attack Israel, issued a statement praising the shooting but not claiming responsibility.
The closure of the crossing further isolated Palestinians in the West Bank, for whom it is the main route of travel abroad. Palestinians in the West Bank find it extremely difficult to obtain permission to leave or arrive through Israel's main international airport, Ben Gurion.
The crossing is also heavily used for transporting goods bound for the West Bank and Gaza.
The war in Gaza has coincided with a surge in violence in the West Bank, where more than 600 Palestinians have been killed since October by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to United Nations figures. On Friday, a 26-year-old American citizen, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was shot dead while taking part in an anti-settlement protest near the Palestinian city of Nablus.
Witnesses said Israeli troops fired live ammunition at peaceful protesters. The military said it was investigating the incident.
In August, Israeli forces carried out one of their largest incursions in years in the northern West Bank, centered on the city of Jenin, which Israel said was aimed at rooting out armed militant groups. Israeli troops withdrew late last week, leaving roads, buildings and infrastructure destroyed and smoldering.
The Israeli army claimed to have killed 14 militants in the course of the operation. Palestinian authorities put the death toll at 36, but did not provide a breakdown between fighters and civilians.
The war in Gaza erupted on October 7, when Hamas-led attackers breached the border fence and killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel, targeting an open-air music festival and a number of small farming communities. Some 250 people were taken hostage.
Israelis have been holding mass demonstrations to demand a ceasefire agreement to free the hostages, of whom fewer than 70 are believed to be still alive inside Gaza. Israeli officials said on Sept. 1 that days earlier Hamas had executed six hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American citizen born in California.
