2 killed in Jordan border crossing shooting attack; terrorist suspected to be Jordanian aid truck driver

( YNet )

Two men are dead following a shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing, near the border with Jordan, on Thursday afternoon. The security force at the crossing neutralized two terrorists at the scene.

The terrorist is suspected to be a Jordanian who works delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, who got out of the truck and opened fire at the men, a 68-year-old and a 20-year-old, and also stabbed them. The security establishment is investigating whether another person helped him.

According to Palestinian reports, the Allenby Crossing has been closed, and so have the entrances to Jericho in the West Bank.

Initial details indicate the Jordanian attacker crossed the terminal on his country’s side, then entered Israeli territory for an additional inspection at the checkpoint. While the truck was being checked, the attacker exited the vehicle, drew a handgun and shot the two victims at close range. He also managed to stab someone, and was neutralized immediately afterward.

About a year ago, Yochanan Shahory, 61, Yuri Birenbaum, 65, and Adrian Marcelo Podsmesser,57, were murdered in a shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing. A Jordanian truck driver named Maher Jazi was responsible for the attack.

King Abdullah of Jordan addressed regional tensions this week following Israel’s failed assassination attempt on senior Hamas figures in Doha. Speaking at the Arab-Islamic Emergency Summit held in Qatar, he said: “The Israeli aggression against Doha came roughly two years after the start of the brutal war in Gaza. During this period, Israel violated international law and all human values, insisting on carrying out unlawful actions in the West Bank, while blocking the two-state solution and harming the prospects for a just peace. Israel continues to threaten the security and stability of Lebanon and Syria, and is now attacking the sovereignty and security of Qatar.”

The king added: “The government of Israel continues in its hegemony because the international community allowed it to be above the law. We in the Arab and Islamic world must re-examine all our tools for joint action to confront the threat posed by this extreme Israeli government. Our summit today must produce practical decisions to address the threat of this extreme Israeli government. The aggression against Qatar is evidence that the Israeli threat knows no bounds.” He addressed summit leaders directly: “Our response must be clear, decisive and deterrent.”

Last Friday a 50-year-old man was seriously wounded and a 23-year-old man was moderately injured in a stabbing attack in the dining room of a hotel at Kibbutz Tzuva in the Jerusalem hills. The assailant, a 42-year-old resident of Shuafat with a history of security offenses who worked at the hotel, was arrested by an officer from the Negev district police who was staying at the hotel.

A week and a half earlier, six Israelis were killed in a shooting attack at the Ramot junction in Jerusalem. The six victims were Rabbi Mordechai Steinzeg (known as Dr. Mark), Sarah Mendelson, Rabbi Levy Yitzhak Pash, Yaakov Pinto, Israel Metzner and Rabbi Yosef David.