Israel has closed the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and neighbouring Jordan, stopping more than two million Palestinians from accessing the outside world.
The Israeli airports authority, which oversees the Allenby Bridge crossing, said it would be closed indefinitely from Wednesday morning “at the direction of the political leadership”. It did not provide a reason.
The closure has stranded many Palestinians in the West Bank, who are unable to go on planned trips abroad. Those who are abroad have been unable to travel home.
It comes days after two Israeli military personnel were shot dead near the crossing by a Jordanian gunman, who was killed at the scene.
It was briefly shut following that incident but had since reopened.
The crossing – also known as the King Hussein Bridge – lies about halfway between Amman and Jerusalem and is the only official crossing point between the West Bank and Jordan. It is also the only entry point to the West Bank that does not go through Israel.
Most Palestinians in the West Bank are not allowed to travel through Israeli airports or other Israeli border crossings, meaning the bridge is an essential connection to the outside world.
Prominent Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti told the BBC it was a “dangerous move” that meant “imprisoning” people in the West Bank and “depriving them from the only passage out”.
“You’re talking here about disrupting the relationship between hundreds of thousands of families who are usually connected through Jordan,” he said.
“Thousands of people who are stuck in Jordan, they don’t have resources to go and pay for hotels. They cannot stay outside. There are mothers who live with their children in the West Bank who need to come back,” he added.
Jordan is home to more than 2m registered Palestinian refugees, while more than half of its population of more than 11m are of Palestinian descent. It has maintained security, trade and diplomatic ties with Israel since a 1994 peace treaty – but is a vocal critic of Israel’s actions towards Palestinians.
Maxim Giacaman, 23, a medical student from Bethlehem, told the BBC he was unable to travel abroad for a key elective in his medical studies.
“I have a rotation for one month in Germany for cardiac surgery,” he said. “And it was a big opportunity for me and for my future, my medical future.”
“My plane is on Saturday and I was planning to go to Amman, Jordan today,” he says. “So it’s miserable.”
The Allenby bridge is a key trade route for goods and medical supplies to enter the West Bank. Israeli authorities say about 9% of humanitarian aid sent by truck to Gaza passes through it.
Palestinians fear its indefinite closure forms part of an Israeli response to moves announced this week by the UK, France, Australia, Canada and other countries to recognise the State of Palestine.
The Israeli government has labelled the moves a “reward for terrorism”. Ultranationalist ministers have called for Israel to annex the West Bank outright as a response.
Since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, triggering the war in Gaza, Israel has significantly tightened its control over the West Bank.
It has introduced hundreds of new checkpoints across the territory, launched a large-scale Jewish settlement push, and carried out major military operations against Palestinian resistance groups. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have also ramped up significantly.
“It shows you that the world community has failed drastically in deterring Israel from expanding its oppressive policies,” says Barghouti. “Israel will not be restrained unless there are serious punitive acts.”
The Allenby bridge was named after British general Edmund Allenby, who defeated the Ottoman empire to gain control of Palestine in 1917. It was built in the following year.
Israel has controlled its side of the bridge since the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israel defeated several Arab states, and in the past has temporarily closed it during religious holidays or for security reasons.
