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
WHO alarmed by health workers, civilians ‘forcibly detained’ in Sudan
- The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency
GENEVA: The World Health Organization voiced alarm Tuesday at reports that more than 70 health workers and around 5,000 civilians were being detained in Nyala in southwestern Sudan.
Since April 2023, Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million more and devastated infrastructure.
“We are concerned by reports from Nyala, the capital of Sudan’s South Darfur state, that more than 70 health care workers are being forcibly detained along with about 5,000 civilians,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the detainees are being held in cramped and unhealthy conditions, and there are reports of disease outbreaks,” the UN health agency chief said.
The RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction allied earlier this year, forming a coalition based in Nyala.
“WHO is gathering more information on the detentions and conditions of those being held. The situation is complicated by the ongoing insecurity,” said Tedros.
“The reported detentions of health workers and thousands more people is deeply concerning. Health workers and civilians should be protected at all times and we call for their safe and unconditional release.”
The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency.
In total, the WHO has recorded 65 attacks on health care in Sudan this year, resulting in 1,620 deaths and 276 injuries. Of those attacks, 54 impacted personnel, 46 impacted facilities and 33 impacted patients.
Earlier Tuesday, UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was “alarmed by the further intensification in hostilities” in the Kordofan region in southern Sudan.
“I urge all parties to the conflict and states with influence to ensure an immediate ceasefire and to prevent atrocities,” he said.
“Medical facilities and personnel have specific protection against attack under international humanitarian law,” Turk added.
