ALLENBY CROSSING, West Bank—Three Israelis were shot and killed Sunday at the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Israeli officials said, in what appeared to be an attack linked to the 11-month-old war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said the gunman approached the Allenby Bridge Crossing from the Jordanian side in a truck and opened fire at Israeli security forces, who killed him in a shootout. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said the three Israelis were men in their 50s and the military said they were civilians.
Relatives identified the gunman as Maher al-Jazi, a retired Jordanian soldier from Athroh, a town in the impoverished Maan area. Jordan’s state-run Petra News Agency said he was transporting goods to the West Bank. The interior ministry said that, based on initial investigation results, the incident was an individual act.
Jordan was investigating. The Western-allied Arab country made peace with Israel in 1994 but is deeply critical of its policies toward the Palestinians. Jordan has a large Palestinian population and has seen mass protests against Israel over the war in Gaza.
Hundreds of Jordanians marched in Amman to celebrate the attack, chanting slogans in support of al-Jazi and burning the Israeli flag.
The Allenby crossing over the Jordan River, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, is mainly used by Palestinians and tourists. The crossing has seen few security incidents, but in 2014 Israeli security guards shot and killed a Jordanian judge who they said had attacked them.
The crossing was closed, and Israel announced the closure of its land crossings with Jordan. It later said all would reopen on Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and linked it to Israel’s larger conflict with Iran and allied terrorist groups, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza triggered the war there.
The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have spent months trying to broker a cease-fire and the return of the hostages, but the negotiations have repeatedly bogged down.
