JERUSALEM: Israel will reopen the only crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jordan to passenger traffic only, starting Friday morning, the Israeli Airports Authority said on Thursday.
Israel shut Allenby Crossing last Friday after a driver bringing humanitarian aid from Jordan for Gaza opened fire and killed two Israeli soldiers there. After briefly reopening it on Monday, Israel closed it indefinitely on Tuesday.
The gateway, also known as the Karama Crossing, serves as the main thoroughfare for West Bank Palestinians to travel abroad and is used by trucks carrying commercial goods between Jordan and the West Bank.
The decision to partially reopen it was made in accordance with the “directive of the political echelon,” the authority said.
Trucks using the crossing also carry aid bound for Gaza, and these will not be able to get through under the current directive.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will respond to countries including France, Britain, Canada and Australia’s move to formally recognize a Palestinian state once he returns from his US visit that includes a meeting with President Donald Trump.
Some of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition allies have said the government should annex the West Bank in retaliation to Palestinian statehood recognition.
Israel to reopen West Bank crossing to Jordan to passenger traffic only
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Israel to reopen West Bank crossing to Jordan to passenger traffic only
- Israel shut Allenby Crossing last Friday
- The decision to partially reopen it was made in accordance with the “directive of the political echelon,” the authority said
Lebanon to delay May elections due to conflict with Israel, officials say
- The sources said Lebanon’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker had agreed on the move on Tuesday
- It would still require the approval of a majority of Lebanon’s 128-member legislature
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s leaders have agreed on a plan to postpone parliamentary elections scheduled for May and to extend parliament’s term by two years after the resumption of conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah this week and growing war in the Middle East, two senior Lebanese officials said.
The sources said Lebanon’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker had agreed on the move on Tuesday. It would still require the approval of a majority of Lebanon’s 128-member legislature.
Lebanon, which last held parliamentary polls in 2022, has been pulled into the war in the Middle East, with Hezbollah on Tuesday launching missiles at Israel for a second consecutive day and Israel sending troops into the south and carrying out waves of airstrikes.
The theater for numerous conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon was drawn into the spillover from the war between the United States, Israel and Iran on Monday, when Hezbollah opened fire with drones and missiles.
With dozens of people killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes, Hezbollah’s move to enter the conflict has sharpened long-standing divisions in Lebanon over its status as an armed group — the only Lebanese faction to keep its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war.
“It does not appear that conditions will be conducive to holding elections for some time,” one of the officials said.
