Israel is to reopen the primary crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank on Wednesday for the first time since late September for the passage of goods and aid, an Israeli security official said.
The Allenby Bridge crossing, also known as King Hussein Bridge, was closed after the driver of a lorry carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza opened fire and killed two Israeli military personnel, before being killed by security forces.
In recent weeks, “security adjustments” were carried out at the crossing, on both the Israeli and Jordanian sides, the Israeli official said.
“In addition, screening and security-profiling procedures for the Jordanian drivers and for the contents of the trucks have been tightened, and dedicated security forces have been assigned to secure the crossing,” the official said.
The Allenby crossing is a key route for trade between Jordan and Israel and the primary, and often only, gateway for more than three million Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to reach Jordan and the wider world.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war. Israel has launched a military offensive in the West Bank since then, in what it says is a crackdown against Palestinian militants.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced, and, while many of the dead were militants, Palestinians and rights groups say dozens of stone-throwers and civilians have been killed.
The violence has not ceased despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas that came into effect in October.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, many of them militants, but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Health Ministry figures.
At least 44 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.
