On Thursday, September 18, 2025, a deadly attack at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank left two Israeli soldiers dead and reignited tensions in a region already on edge from the ongoing Gaza conflict. The incident, which unfolded at the only official crossing point between the West Bank and Jordan, has drawn condemnation, prompted investigations, and led to immediate changes in the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
According to multiple reports, including those from Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera, the assailant was identified as Abdul Mutalib al-Qaisi, a 57-year-old Jordanian national who had been working as a driver delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza for the past three months. On Thursday morning, al-Qaisi arrived at the Israeli-controlled terminal in a truck loaded with aid, stepped off, and began shooting at Israeli military personnel. When his gun malfunctioned, he reportedly used a knife to stab the victims. Security forces at the scene quickly returned fire and killed the attacker.
The two Israeli soldiers killed in the attack were later identified as reservist Lieutenant Colonel Yitzhak Harosh, 68, and Sergeant Oran Hershko, 20. Israel’s national ambulance service, Magen David Adom, stated that both men succumbed to their wounds despite efforts to save them. Paramedic Bosmat Lubiner, who responded to the scene, described the confusion and urgency: “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.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the casualties were soldiers, and the Israeli military denounced the incident as a "terror attack." The military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, responded by recommending a halt to the entry of humanitarian aid from Jordan into Gaza until a thorough investigation could be completed and revised security protocols for Jordanian drivers were established. Israel also shut down all its land border crossings following the attack, including one at its southernmost tip with Egypt, according to the Israel Airports Authority.
Jordan’s foreign ministry swiftly condemned the attack as a “violation of international law” and a threat to its humanitarian role in Gaza. The ministry stated, “The driver accused of the operation is Abdul Mutalib al-Qaisi, born in 1968. He is a civilian who began working as a driver delivering aid to Gaza three months ago.” Jordanian authorities launched an investigation and suspended passenger traffic at the crossing after its closure from the Israeli side, urging travelers to follow media updates until the border reopened.
On the day of the attack, 22 Jordanian aid trucks had crossed the bridge toward Gaza, part of a broader effort that has seen 8,664 aid trucks delivered since October 2023, according to Jordan’s foreign ministry. The ministry emphasized the importance of its humanitarian mission, noting that the attack endangered the delivery of vital aid to the war-torn Gaza Strip.
The Allenby Bridge crossing—also known as the King Hussein Bridge—holds unique significance in the region. It is the only official crossing point between the West Bank and Jordan that does not pass through Israel, serving as the main gateway for most Palestinians in the West Bank to travel abroad and the primary route for commercial goods and humanitarian shipments. Palestinians are unable to use Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport and are not permitted to build airports in the West Bank or Gaza, making the bridge a lifeline for travel and trade.
Attacks at the crossing are rare but not unprecedented. Just one year prior, in September 2024, a Jordanian truck driver opened fire at the same location, killing three Israeli border workers before being shot dead by security forces. That incident prompted a two-day closure of the crossing and heightened security concerns. The recurrence of violence at such a highly secured site has raised pressing questions about border security and the screening of aid convoys.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group currently engaged in conflict with Israel in Gaza, praised Thursday’s attack as a response to “the daily crimes and massacres committed by the [Israeli] occupation against our Palestinian people,” though it stopped short of claiming responsibility. The group had also called for “three days of anger” against Israel and the United States, starting Friday, in response to a new Israeli ground offensive in Gaza City. The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, launched following a Hamas-led attack nearly two years ago, has killed more than 65,100 Palestinians and devastated the enclave, according to figures reported by Al Jazeera.
The latest incident further strains the already tense relationship between Jordan and Israel. While the two countries maintain a peace treaty and coordinate on security and economic issues, relations have sharply deteriorated since the Gaza war began. Jordan, which is home to a large Palestinian population, has faced widespread protests against Israeli actions in Gaza and is under increasing domestic pressure to distance itself from its neighbor. Despite these tensions, Jordan has continued to facilitate aid deliveries to Gaza and even assisted in intercepting Iranian missiles and drones during regional crossfire in 2024.
Following the attack, Israeli forces conducted extensive searches in the area and encircled the nearby West Bank town of Jericho, seeking to ensure that no accomplices or further threats remained. The Israeli foreign ministry blamed the attack on what it called “vile incitement in Jordan,” while Jordanian officials reiterated their condemnation of all acts of violence and stressed their commitment to upholding humanitarian obligations.
The closure of the Allenby Bridge crossing has immediate and far-reaching implications. Not only does it disrupt the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza—a region already suffering from what aid groups describe as a man-made famine—but it also limits the movement of Palestinians and the delivery of goods vital to the West Bank economy. The incident underscores the fragility of regional cooperation in the face of ongoing violence and deep-seated mistrust.
As investigations continue on both sides of the border, the attack at the Allenby Bridge has become another flashpoint in the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, highlighting the complex interplay of security, humanitarian needs, and political realities that define the region. With both Israeli and Jordanian authorities vowing to review and tighten security procedures, the future of aid deliveries and cross-border movement hangs in the balance, watched closely by all parties with a stake in the outcome.
The events of September 18, 2025, at the Allenby Bridge crossing serve as a stark reminder of how quickly violence can disrupt fragile arrangements and deepen the divisions that persist at the heart of the Middle East.