Three Israeli civilians shot dead at Allenby Crossing between West Bank and Jordan

By Tamar Michaelis, CNN

(CNN) — Three Israeli civilians have been killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, Israeli authorities said Sunday.

The Israel Airports Authority, which runs the border terminal at the Allenby Crossing with Jordan, told CNN that the three men who died worked at the crossing.

“The terrorist shot dead three employees of the Allenby terminal at close range,” before being killed by a security guard, the manager of the crossing, Alex Chen, said.

The Allenby crossing mainly serves Palestinians and foreigners. Israelis are not allowed 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.”

Jordanian authorities said a preliminary investigation had identified the suspect as Maher Diab Hussein Al-Jazi, a Jordanian citizen from Al-Hussainiya in the Maan governorate south of the capital, Amman.

Al-Jazi had acted alone, the Jordanian Ministry of Interior said, adding that he had driven over the crossing in a vehicle taking commercial goods from Jordan to the West Bank. It said various authorities were now coordinating the repatriation of Al-Jazi’s body for burial in Jordan.

The suspected gunman’s brother Shady Al-Jazi said his family had been surprised by the news, which they learned through satellite television. He suggested his brother’s anger at Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza may have been a motivating factor.

“He used to work as a truck driver and would cross (the bridge) often to offload the truck and then return back to Jordan. But his grief over what’s happening to the Muslim nation, seeing all the killing in Gaza, and every one of us who feels passionately for his brethren, this could motivate him,” he told Jordanian news outlet Ammon in an on-air interview.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooting, saying the three Israelis 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 Jordanian government also condemned the shooter’s actions, with the foreign ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah saying the country rejects and condemns “violence and targeting civilians for any reason.”

However, the ministry also hinted there was a link between extremism and Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, calling for moves “to address the root causes and de-escalate tensions” and noting Jordan’s efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.

The incident 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.

All three land crossings between Israel and Jordan were closed following the attack, the Israel Airports Authority said. On Monday, the Yitzhak Rabin crossing connecting Jordan to Eilat and the Jordan River crossing connecting Jordan to the occupied West Bank reopened to passenger traffic, according to the AIA, which said both would open to cargo traffic from Tuesday. The Allenby Crossing remained closed Monday but is expected to open to passengers only from Tuesday.

All Jordanian drivers who were questioned following the incident have since been released, and over 100 trucks have returned to Jordan, Jordanian authorities said.

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.

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