8/9/2024–|Last update: 8/9/202402:21 PM (Makkah Time)
Three Israelis were killed in a shooting attack near the Allenby Bridge (King Hussein Bridge) between Jordan and the West Bank, in the first operation of its kind since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7 and the escalation of attacks in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said it shot the perpetrator, killing him, while the Jordanian Interior Ministry said that official authorities had begun investigating the shooting incident on the other side of the crossing.
How did the process happen?
Israel’s Channel 14 reported that the attacker got out of a truck carrying goods he was driving, pulled out a gun he had hidden and opened fire on Israeli security personnel.
The Israeli army spokesman said that the perpetrator of the shooting operation arrived at the crossing in a truck and opened fire with a pistol he had in his possession on the Israeli security forces that were securing the crossing after unloading the truck.
Who are the dead?
Three Israeli border guards were killed after the attacker opened fire on them, hitting them directly in the head.
The Israeli ambulance said that it tried to save the injured, but their injuries were “fatal,” as it described them.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported that an Israeli helicopter evacuated the wounded at the crossing, but they could not be saved.
Who is the outlet?
The Israeli army said that the perpetrator of the shooting was a truck driver who came from Jordan, while an Israeli security official confirmed that the perpetrator was Jordanian, without confirmation from the Jordanian side so far.
What did Israel do?
Following the shooting, the Israeli authorities announced the closure of the land crossings with Jordan indefinitely, while the commander of the Central Command and the commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade headed to the crossing to assess the situation.
Israeli security forces detained all Arab workers at the crossing for investigation.
The Israeli Army Radio confirmed that drivers who were at the crossing at the time of the attack were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the incident.
The occupation also closed the crossings of Jericho city and set up checkpoints there, which is the second station for travelers after entering through the crossing and their station for boarding buses to their cities.
What are the political responses?
Commenting on the operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the day as “difficult,” adding, “We are surrounded by a deadly ideology led by the Iranian axis of evil,” as he put it.
The head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council said that the Allenby Crossing operation “is not a minor incident and has severe repercussions,” calling for the application of Israeli sovereignty over the area, he said.
For its part, the Islamic Jihad Movement praised the operation, saying that it was “the truest expression of the Jordanian people’s and Arab and Muslim peoples’ feelings towards the occupation’s massacres.”
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) also blessed the operation, indicating that it is a response to the crimes of the occupation and an affirmation of the Arab and Islamic nation’s support for the Palestinian people and their resistance.
Are there similar operations?
The past months have witnessed attempts to infiltrate from the Jordanian side into Israel. Last April, the Israeli army radio confirmed that an armed man came from Jordanian territory and opened fire on an army patrol without causing any injuries, and without crossing the border fence.
In 2010, the car of the Israeli ambassador and his diplomatic staff was targeted in the Al-Adasiyah area near the King Hussein Bridge by an explosive device that was near the Israeli car when it exploded.
In 1990, Jordanian citizen Sultan Al-Ajlouni stormed an Israeli site after crossing the Jordanian border and opened fire, killing an Israeli soldier.
What is the importance of the crossing?
The crossing is the only crossing point for Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to Jordan, and thus to countries around the world, but Israel controls the side that should be under the control of the Palestinian side.
The crossing is also used mainly for transporting goods, and trucks pass through it from Jordan to the Jordan Valley, the West Bank and Israel. It is located near the villages of the Jordan Valley and the city of Jericho.
It is noteworthy that aid trucks coming from Jordan to the Gaza Strip passed through this crossing during the war on Gaza.
Last April, members of an Israeli movement called “Order 9” and family members of detainees in Gaza closed the crossing, aiming to prevent aid trucks from leaving Jordan for Gaza.
The crossing is known by three names: Al-Karamah on the Palestinian side, King Hussein Bridge on the Jordanian side, and Allenby Bridge on the Israeli side.
