Palestinians in West Bank Cut Off as Israel Closes Key Crossing

Wed Oct 22 2025 18:56:24 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The closure of the Allenby Bridge, the only official crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, has left over two million Palestinians stranded, affecting travel plans and humanitarian aid.

Israel has indefinitely closed the Allenby Bridge crossing, isolating over two million Palestinians in the West Bank from international travel and impacting humanitarian aid supplies. This closure follows a recent violent incident at the crossing and could exacerbate already strained Palestinian-Jordanian relations. Prominent Palestinian voices criticize the move as dangerously impactful for families and medical professionals hoping to travel.

Israel has closed the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and neighbouring Jordan, stopping more than two million Palestinians from accessing the outside world.

The Israeli airports authority, which oversees the Allenby Bridge crossing, said it would be closed indefinitely from Wednesday morning at the direction of the political leadership. It did not provide a reason.

The closure has stranded many Palestinians in the West Bank, who are unable to go on planned trips abroad. Those who are abroad have been unable to travel home.

It comes days after two Israeli military personnel were shot dead near the crossing by a Jordanian gunman, who was killed at the scene.

It was briefly shut following that incident but had since reopened.

The crossing - also known as the King Hussein Bridge - lies about halfway between Amman and Jerusalem and is the only official crossing point between the West Bank and Jordan. It is also the only entry point to the West Bank that 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 the bridge is an essential connection to the outside world.

Prominent Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti told the BBC it was a dangerous move that meant imprisoning people in the West Bank and depriving them of the only passage out.

Barghouti expressed concerns about how this closure affects family relationships and disrupts lives: You're talking here about disrupting the relationship between hundreds of thousands of families who are usually connected through Jordan, he mentioned.

Maxim Giacaman, a 23-year-old medical student from Bethlehem, expressed his frustration, stating that he missed an essential rotation in Germany for cardiac surgery due to the closure: My plane is on Saturday and I was planning to go to Amman, Jordan today. So it's miserable.

Palestinians fear that the crossing's indefinite closure forms part of an Israeli response to recent international recognition of the State of Palestine by several Western countries.

Israeli authorities emphasize the closure as a security measure, particularly following heightened tensions and military operations in response to recent conflict escalation with Hamas.

The Allenby Bridge is a critical route not only for personal travel but also for trade and humanitarian aid into the West Bank, raising serious concerns about how this closure will address the needs of the local population.