STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. A Jordanian man has fatally shot three Israeli civilians at the border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank. This is the first such incident since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, raising fears of a regional escalation. West Jerusalem has identified the victims as Yuri Birnbaum, Yohanan Shchori and Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer.
The Allenby Bridge, also known as King Hussein Bridge, spans the River Jordan east of Jericho and near the Jordanian town of al-Karameh. It is the only official border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. It was closed on Sunday following the attack but reopened on Monday, though only for pedestrians.
“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,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
“The terrorist was eliminated by the security forces, three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack,” the IDF added.
Closure of the Allenby Bridge primarily impacts some three million Palestinians in the West Bank, who receive goods from the region via Jordan.
Jordanian authorities identified the attacker as Maher Ziab Hussein al-Jazi, 39, a resident of Husseiniya in the Ma’an governorate. Amman said it was investigating the incident.
Following the attack, hundreds of people took to the streets of the Jordanian capital to chant in support of Hussein, declaring that he had avenged the deaths of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, according to Reuters.
Jordan took control of the present-day West Bank in 1949 and annexed it the following year. Israel took it during the June 1967 war, along with Gaza, which had been occupied by Egypt. Amman abandoned all claims to the territory in the 1994 peace treaty with Tel Aviv.
