Three Israeli border guards have been killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, the Israeli Emergency Services said Sunday.
The identity of the assailant is unknown at this time, and the Jordanian Interior Ministry said it begun an investigation.
The manager of the crossing, Alex Chen, said the shooter was a Jordanian driver, adding that the crossing has been closed until further notice. “The terrorist shot dead three employees of the Allenby terminal at close range,” before being killed by a security guard, he said.
All three land crossings between Israel and Jordan were closed following the attack, the Israel Airports Authority said. The Allenby crossing mainly serves Palestinians and foreigners, with Israelis not permitted to use it.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “a terrorist approached the area of the Allenby Bridge from Jordan in a truck, exited the truck, and opened fire at the Israeli security forces operating at the bridge.”
“Three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack,” the IDF said, adding that the assailant had been shot dead. The IDF also published a photograph of the hand gun it said was used in the attack.
Israeli police spoke of “several casualties at the scene,” and also said the shooter had “been neutralized.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooting, saying the border guards were murdered by a “despicable terrorist.”
In remarks at the beginning of the weekly government meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was “surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil.”
The incident on Sunday comes almost two weeks after Israel’s military launched one of its most expansive operations in the West Bank in years, carrying out raids, bulldozing highways, and launching airstrikes in multiple parts of the occupied territory.
Clashes in the West Bank have become more frequent since Israel began its war in Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Israeli troops and settlers have killed nearly 700 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, whose figures do not distinguish between militants and civilians.
Jordan became the second Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel in 1994. It has been highly critical of Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
Jordan is a close ally of the United States, from which it receives substantial military aid.