Three Israelis killed in West Bank-Jordan border shooting as Gaza reels from airstrikes

Three Israelis killed in West Bank-Jordan border shooting as Gaza reels from airstrikes
At least three Israelis were killed in a shooting at a border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, while Israeli strikes killed 31 people in Gaza
5 min read
08 September, 2024

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The Israeli military said a truck driver opened fire Sunday at an Israeli border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, killing three Israeli guards before being "eliminated" by security forces.

Israel said "a terrorist" reached the area of the Allenby Bridge Crossing, also known as King Hussein Crossing, in a truck "from Jordan". The driver "exited the truck and opened fire at Israeli security forces operating at the bridge," a military statement said.

"Three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack," the military said, later clarifying that they were "working as security guards" and not part of the army or police forces.

The attacker was shot dead by forces, the military added.

Israel has been engaged in a major assault on towns and cities in the West Bank, with over 39 Palestinians killed since 28 August.

The Gaza war entered its 12th month Saturday with no sign that Israel's indiscriminate attacks on the territory will end. At least 31 people were killed there in Israeli strikes on Saturday, eight of them at a schools sheltering displaced people.

Israel has continued to stall negotiations for a truce that would see Israeli captives held by Hamas swapped for Palestinian prisoners, insisting on permanently keeping troops at the Philadelphi corridor which separates Gaza from Egypt.

Hamas has rejected any presence of Israeli troops on the Gaza Strip, demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

Around 750,000 Israelis protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Saturday evening, demanding an immediate ceasefire deal. 

Agencies contributed to this report.

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5:51 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

This live blog on Israel's war on Gaza and the latest developments in the occupied West Bank has now ended. Thanks for following!

$4.5 mln pact signed to aid 4,400 stranded Gazans in W. Bank
3:53 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The Qatar Red Crescent and the U.N. agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) signed an agreement on Sunday, with $4.5 million from a Qatari state development fund, to aid more than 4,400 stranded Palestinian workers and patients from Gaza in the occupied West Bank.

Gaza death toll reaches 40,972 since Oct 7: health ministry
1:00 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

At least 40,972 Palestinians have been killed and 94,761 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday.

The toll includes 33 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry.

Euro-Med urges immediate int'l probe into Oct. 7 events
12:17 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israel closes land border crossings with Jordan
12:15 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israel has closed it lands border crossings with Jordan after the deadly attack at the Allenby Bridge crossing on Sunday, according to Israel's airports authority.

Yemen's Houthis claim they shot down another US MQ-9 drone
10:21 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

 Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed early Sunday they shot down another American-made MQ-9 drone flying over the country, marking potentially the latest downing of the multimillion-dollar surveillance aircraft. The U.S. responded with airstrikes over Houthi-controlled territory, the rebels said.

The U.S. military told The Associated Press it was aware of the claim but has "received no reports" of American military drones being downed over Yemen.

The rebels offered no pictures or video to support the claim as they have in the past, though such material can appear in propaganda footage days later.

However, the Houthis have repeatedly downed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones in the years since they seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Jordan closes bridge with West Bank after shooting incident
9:43 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Jordan has closed the King Hussein bridge crossing with the occupied West Bank as it investigates a shooting incident in which three Israelis were killed, a Jordanian official told Reuters.

The incident occurred in a commercial cargo area under Israeli control where Jordanian trucks offload cargo entering the occupied West Bank from the kingdom.

Hezbollah fires rockets after Israeli strike kills rescuers
8:59 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon and Israeli forces traded cross-border attacks, both sides said early Sunday, a day after the Lebanese health ministry reported three rescuers killed in an Israeli attack.

Hezbollah said it had bombarded the northern Israeli town of "Kiryat Shmona with a volley of Falaq rockets" early Sunday "in response to the enemy attacks... and particularly the attack" that killed the emergency workers in the Lebanese village of Froun.

On Saturday, Lebanon's health ministry said three emergency responders were killed and two others wounded, one of them critically, in an Israeli strike on Froun.

The ministry said the attack had targeted "a Lebanese civil defence team that was putting out fires sparked by the recent Israeli strikes", while the Israeli military said it had "eliminated terrorists" from the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement in Froun.

Lebanon's civil defence agency said three of its employees were killed in "an Israeli strike that targeted a firefighting vehicle after they had finished a firefighting mission".

Israeli strike kills senior rescue service official in Gaza
8:56 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

An Israeli airstrike on a house in Jabalia on Sunday killed Mohammad Morsi, deputy director of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, and four of his family, health officials said.

The Civil Emergency Service said in a statement that Morsi's death raised to 83 the number of its members killed by Israeli fire since October 7.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on Morsi's death.

3 shot dead near Allenby crossing with Jordan: Israel
8:52 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israel's emergency service said three people were killed in what police described as a "shooting attack" near the Allenby Crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan on Sunday morning.

"We found three men lying unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing, with gunshot wounds. Together with the IDF (Israeli military) medical team, we performed resuscitation efforts, but unfortunately, we had to declare their deaths on scene," a Magen David Adom emergency service statement said. Israeli police claimed separately that an attacker had been "neutralised".