2 Israelis killed in shooting attack near border crossing with Jordan

ISTANBUL

Two Israelis were killed in a shooting attack near a border crossing with Jordan on Thursday, medics said.

Israel’s national ambulance service MDA said in a statement that two men, aged 20 and 60, were killed in the attack near Allenby (King Hussein) Crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.

Israel’s Army Radio said the attacker was neutralized at the site, without giving any further details.

The public broadcaster KAN claimed that the attacker was a Jordanian citizen carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

The daily Yedioth Ahronoth, citing security sources, said the attacker was the driver of an aid truck, who stabbed the two Israelis after gunfire.

The Israeli army said a gunman arrived in a truck transporting humanitarian aid from Jordan, and opened fire before army forces neutralized him.

It said troops were conducting searches in the area and encircling the city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli Channel 14 that the two dead Israelis were soldiers.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani said Amman is following reports about the security incident on the Israeli side of the crossing.

Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said it has suspended passenger movement across the crossing after the terminal was closed from the Israeli side.

The directorate urged travelers to follow media updates until the border crossing reopens.

In a statement, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said that it has launched an investigation into the shooting incident.

The ministry reaffirmed Jordan’s “steady position condemning all acts of violence and rejecting all illegal actions that harm Jordan’s interests, role, and the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.”

It said authorities are coordinating to monitor the drivers who crossed the bridge to deliver aid to Gaza to ensure their safe and immediate return to Jordan.

According to the ministry, 22 Jordanian aid trucks crossed the King Hussein Bridge toward Gaza Thursday under the agreed-upon procedures with Israel.

These procedures, the ministry said, have allowed 8,664 aid trucks to pass in 201 convoys since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023.

Following the attack, Israel suspended the entry of humanitarian aid from Jordan to Gaza, even in limited amounts, the public broadcaster KAN reported.

The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 65,100 Palestinians since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and forced the population into famine.

In September 2024, three Israelis were killed by gunfire from a Jordanian truck driver at the same crossing.

Jordan shares three border crossings with Israel: Sheikh Hussein (Jordan River) Bridge, King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, and Wadi Araba (Yitzhak Rabin) Crossing.