Palestinians in West Bank failed while Israel only closes the international crossing

Israel closed the only passage between the West Bank occupied by the Israelis and the neighboring Jordan, preventing more than two million Palestinians from accessing the outside world.

The Israeli Airport Authority, which oversees the crossing of the Allenby bridge, said that it would be closed indefinitely from Wednesday morning “to political leadership”. It didn’t provide any reason.

The closure has blocked many Palestinians in the West Bank, who cannot make trips planned abroad. Those who are abroad could not go home.

It comes a few days after two Israeli soldiers were killed near the crossing by a Jordanian shooter, who was killed on the scene.

He was briefly closed following this incident but had since reopened.

The crossing – also known as the King Hussein bridge – is halfway between Amman and Jerusalem and is the only official crossing point between the West Bank and Jordan. It is also the only point of entry into the West Bank which does not go through Israel.

Most Palestinians in the West Bank are not allowed to travel through Israeli airports or other Israeli border crossings, which means that the bridge is an essential link with the outside world.

The eminent Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti told the BBC that it was a “dangerous decision” which meant “imprison” people in the West Bank and “Deprive them of the only passage”.

“Here you are talking about disturbing the relationship between hundreds of thousands of families who are generally linked by Jordan,” he said.

“Thousands of people who are stuck in Jordan, they have no resources to pay for hotels. They cannot stay outside. There are mothers who live with their children in the West Bank who must come back,” he added.

Jordan is home to more than 2 million registered Palestinian refugees, while more than half of its population of more than 11 million people are of Palestinian origin. He has maintained security, trade and diplomatic links with Israel since a peace treaty in 1994 – but is a vocal critic of Israel’s actions towards the Palestinians.

Maxim Giacaman, 23, a medical student from Bethlehem, told the BBC that he was unable to travel abroad for a key choice in his medical studies.

“I have a rotation for a month in Germany for cardiac surgery,” he said. “And it was a great opportunity for me and for my future, my medical future.”

“My plane is on Saturday and I planned to go to Amman, Jordan today,” he said. “It is therefore miserable.”

The Allenby bridge is a key commercial route for goods and medical supplies to enter the West Bank. Israeli authorities say that around 9% of humanitarian aid sent by truck to Gaza crosses it.

The Palestinians fear that its indefinite closure will be part of an Israeli response to the measures announced this week by the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada and other countries to recognize the state of Palestine.

The Israeli government has described the movements of “terrorism reward”. Ultra -nationalist ministers called Israel to annex the West Bank in the West Bank in response.

Since the attack led by Hamas against southern Israel which killed around 1,200 people and has seen 251 hostages taken, triggering war in Gaza, Israel has considerably tightened its control over the West Bank.

He introduced hundreds of new control points across the territory, launched a large -scale Jewish colony push and carried out major military operations against Palestinian resistance groups. The attacks by Israeli settlers against the Palestinians have also increased considerably.

“This shows you that the global community has radically failed to dissuade Israel from expanding its oppressive policies,” said Barghouti. “Israel will not be retained unless there are serious punitive acts.”

The Allenby bridge was appointed according to British general Edmund Allenby, who beat the Ottoman Empire to take control of Palestine in 1917. It was built the following year.

Israel has checked its side of the bridge since the 1967 six -day war, during which Israel defeated several Arab states, and in the past temporarily closed it during religious holidays or for security reasons.