An assailant armed with a gun and a knife killed two Israeli soldiers at a border crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical service.
The attacker stepped off a truck in a terminal at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, where aid trucks were lined up for inspection. He first opened fire, then stabbed the two men with a knife, according to two rescue workers at the scene.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told reporters that the two casualties were both soldiers. Israeli security forces killed the assailant, a Magen David Adom spokesman said.
A military statement said the attacker crossed the border in a truck transporting humanitarian aid from Jordan. Security forces were searching the area and encircling the nearby West Bank town of Jericho, it added.
It was not immediately clear whether the attacker acted alone or on behalf of a group. The Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the attack without claiming responsibility.
Hamas has called for three “days of anger” against Israel and the United States starting Friday after Israel launched a new ground offensive this week in Gaza City. The Israeli operation has caused hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee the enclave’s largest urban center.
The Jordanian foreign ministry condemned the attack in a statement on X, saying it was investigating. The statement identified the gunman as a Jordanian national who began working as a driver to deliver aid to Gaza three months ago.
Jordan, home to a large Palestinian population, has become a focal point for anger over the war in Gaza and there have been widespread protests there. But as a U.S. ally and one of the few Arab states with a longstanding peace treaty with Israel, Jordan is caught between domestic pressure and regional alliances.
Relations with Israel have sharply deteriorated since the Gaza war began nearly two years ago, set off by a Hamas-led attack on Israel.
The Allenby Bridge crossing, where Thursday’s attack took place, serves as the primary gateway for most Palestinians in the West Bank to travel abroad. It is also the main route for moving commercial goods between Jordan and the West Bank and has been used as a transit point for some aid shipments headed for war-ravaged Gaza.
Attacks at the crossing are unusual. But last year, a Jordanian truck driver opened fire there and killed three Israelis.
It was not clear how the assailant in Thursday’s attack was able to cross the border carrying a weapon.
Bosmat Lubiner, a paramedic and regional commander for Magen David Adom, said that it was not immediately clear whether the soldiers were killed by gunshots or stab wounds and that medics had tried to save them before they died.
The soldiers killed were aged 68 and 20. Some Israelis serve as reserve soldiers even after the age they are no longer required to, usually performing low-risk tasks. Some, if not many, serve into their sixties and seventies.
Israel shut down all of its land border crossings following the attack on Thursday, including one at its southernmost tip with Egypt, according to a spokesman for the Israel Airports Authority, which manages border crossings.
Despite tensions over the Gaza war, Jordan has upheld its peace treaty with Israel, continuing to coordinate with Israeli officials on security and economic issues. Jordanian forces helped intercept Iranian missiles and drones during crossfire between Iran and Israel in 2024.
Israel has controlled the West Bank since 1967, when it seized the territory from Jordan during the Arab-Israeli war.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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