Jerusalem: Israel announced Sunday that it has closed all three of its border crossings with Jordan after three Israeli security guards were reportedly killed in the morning at one of the crossings.
Earlier on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a driver approached the Allenby Bridge, a border point between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, from the Jordanian side in a truck, exited his vehicle, and opened fire on Israeli security guards, leaving three dead at the scene.
The attacker was shot dead by Israeli forces, the IDF added. Israel’s state-owned Kan TV reported that early indications suggest the gunman was a Jordanian national.
Following the shooting attack, the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement that it has shut down the Allenby Bridge, also known officially in Jordan as the King Hussein Bridge, together with the Wadi Araba Crossing or Yitzhak Rabin Crossing between Israel’s Red Sea resort city of Eilat and Jordan’s Aqaba, and the Jordan River Crossing or Sheikh Hussein Bridge between Israel’s Beit She’an and Jordan’s Irbid.
The closures followed “instructions by security officials,” it noted, without specifying the time of reopening the crossings, Xinhua news agency reported.
Also on Sunday, Jordan’s Public Security Directorate announced the closure of King Hussein Bridge with the West Bank until further notice due to a shutdown from the other side.
Bridge users should comply and stay updated regarding any changes in travel movements, which will be announced promptly, Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency quoted the directorate as saying.
According to Petra, Jordan’s Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into the alleged shooting attack.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority confirmed that the movement of travellers between the West Bank and Jordan has been completely halted, with information about the reopening of the border crossing still unclear.
Palestinian security sources reported that Israeli forces have tightened their military measures near the Jordan-Palestine border, detaining workers and drivers without knowing their identities.
The shooting attack and subsequent developments come amid the rising tension and persistent Israeli raids in the West Bank and an 11-month-long war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
–IANS
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