Three Israelis were shot and killed by a terrorist Sunday at the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Israeli officials said.
The military said the assailant approached the Allenby Bridge Crossing from the Jordanian side in a truck and opened fire at Israeli security forces, who killed the assailant in a shootout.
It said the three people killed were Israeli civilians. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said they were all men in their 50s.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group praised the attacker, the Times of Israel reports.
Police and ambulance arrive at the site after a truck driver opened fire at King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on September 08, 2024, near Jerico, West Bank. Three Israelis were killed in a shooting attack at the border with Jordan on Sunday. (Magen David Adom/Handout/Anadolu via Getty)
In a statement on its Telegram channel, the PIJ described the attacker who arrived at the crossing from Jordan as a “hero,” and said the terror assault is an “expression of the sentiments of the Jordanian people and the Arab and Muslim peoples towards the brutal massacres committed by the enemy.”
“This heroic attack and similar ones are the only response that the American administration understands,” the statement adds, accusing the United States of being an “accomplice” to Israel.
The Allenby crossing over the Jordan River, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, is mainly used by Israelis, Palestinians and international tourists.
AFP reports authorities in Israel and Jordan said the crossing was closed until further notice, and Israel later announced the closure of both of its land crossings with Jordan, near Beit Shean in the north and Eilat in the south.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and linked it to Israel’s larger conflict with Iran and allied militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.