Israel closes only crossing between Jordan, West Bank

JERUSALEM: Tel Aviv will indefinitely close the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jordan from Wednesday, days after reopening it.

Palestinian and Jordanian authorities had said earlier on Tuesday that Israel would close the border the following day.

The crossing serves as the main gateway for many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to travel abroad and is used to transport commercial goods between Jordan and their territory.

The move comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the government would give its “response” to other countries recognising a Palestinian state once he returns from a visit to the United States.

Allenby Crossing serves as main gateway for Palestinians in the occupied territory to travel abroad

France, Britain, Canada and Australia are among several countries who have or will recognise Palestine this week, in what they hope will revive momentum for the two-state solution.

Some of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition allies have said that the government should annex the occupied West Bank in response.

Israel fully reopened the Allenby crossing on Monday, four days after alleging that a Jordanian truck driver had shot dead two of its soldiers. The crossing was closed following the shooting.

A spokesperson for the Israeli authority overseeing the Allenby crossing said it would be closed from Wednesday morning “at the direction of the political leadership”.

Rally in occupied West Bank

Crowds of people rallied in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, waving flags and holding posters of President Mahmud Abbas to celebrate the wave of recognition by Western powers of a Palestinian state.

Nationalist slogans blared from loudspeakers across the central square in Ramallah, where a crowd of more than 100 clutched Palestinian and European flags alongside signs reading “stop the genocide”.

High-ranking officials from Abbas’s political movement, Fatah, and the Palestinian Authority — which exerts limited control in the occupied territory — shook hands and smiled.

“This recognition is a first step in a process that we hope will continue,” Jibril Rajoub, secretary general of Fatah’s central committee, said.

“It is the result of more than a century of resistance and determination by our people.”

Rajoub said he had felt moved listening to the speeches made at the UN General Assembly in New York the night before.

“We must learn from the past and unite the people,” he said.

Maysoon Mahmud, 39, who is also a Fatah member, said: “We came here today to thank the countries that have recognised Palestine, but also to ask them to continue to support us in stopping the war.

“It is time for the world to take responsibility.”

Further north in Tulkarem, dozens more gathered, holding the flags of countries that now recognise a Palestinian state.

But many Palestinians expressed ambivalence at the move due to the bitter reality on the ground.

Roula Ghaneb, an academic from Tulkarem, stood impassively in the middle of the Ramallah rally, holding a photo of her 20-year-old son, Yazan.

“He was arrested at our home eight months ago,” she said, adding that he was being held in poor conditions.

Ghaneb said she wanted an end to all violence, insisting: “We don’t want words, we want action.”

Published in Brackly News, September 24th, 2025