Jordanian gunman kills three Israelis at Allenby Bridge

ALLENBY BRIDGE CROSSING, West Bank: A Jordanian gunman shot and killed three Israeli civilians at the Allenby Bridge border crossing in the occupied West Bank on Sunday before being fatally shot by Israeli security forces, according to Israeli authorities.

This marked the first such attack along the Jordan-Israel border since the Hamas assault on southern Israel on 7 October, which ignited the ongoing Gaza conflict.

The incident occurred in a commercial cargo zone controlled by Israel, where Jordanian trucks offload goods into the West Bank. The Allenby Bridge, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, is situated between Amman and Jerusalem, just north of the Dead Sea.

The attacker, identified as 39-year-old Maher Ziab Hussein Al-Jazi from southern Jordan’s Ma'an governorate, was a truck driver from the influential Huwaitat tribe, according to his family and the Jordanian interior ministry. The Israeli military reported that Al-Jazi approached the area in his truck, exited, and opened fire on Israeli security personnel. The gunman was shot and killed by security forces, but three Israeli civilians were confirmed dead.

Jordanian authorities are investigating the attack, and the crossing has since been closed. The Allenby Bridge is a key trade route between Jordan and Israel and one of five land crossings between the nations. It is also crucial for over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank.

The Israeli manager of the crossing stated that the three victims were shot at close range. Meanwhile, anti-Israel sentiment remains strong in Jordan, where hundreds of people took to the streets in Amman, celebrating the attack as a form of revenge for Palestinian casualties in Gaza.

While Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and maintain close security cooperation, the incident underscores rising tensions. The crossing, typically used to transport goods from Jordan and the Gulf into both Israeli and Palestinian markets, remains a vital trade route. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has called for a thorough investigation to prevent future incidents of this kind.