Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Two Israeli soldiers were killed on Thursday in a shooting attack near the Allenby Bridge (King Hussein Bridge), which connects the Israeli-occupied West Bank with Jordan. The incident has heightened tensions in a region already gripped by escalating violence, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli emergency services, the victims were a man in his twenties and another in his sixties. Both were fatally shot and subsequently stabbed in what authorities are describing as a targeted assault by an assailant identified as a Jordanian truck driver. The attacker, reportedly driving a humanitarian aid truck bound for Gaza, opened fire on Israeli personnel at the crossing point before being shot and killed by a security guard in the truck inspection area.
Israeli military radio quoted a security source suggesting that authorities are investigating the possibility that the attacker may have been an undercover militant posing as part of the aid convoy. The Allenby crossing is a key transit point for Palestinians in the West Bank who are otherwise barred from using Israel’s main international airport.
This is not the first time the crossing has witnessed bloodshed. Roughly a year ago, another shooting incident at the same location resulted in the deaths of three Israelis.
The border attack comes amid a major Israeli military operation underway in Gaza, codenamed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots 2.” Now entering its third consecutive day, the campaign has intensified in northern Gaza, with Israeli forces pushing deeper into the city and engaging in fierce ground combat with Hamas fighters.
