The Allenby or King Hussein Bridge, between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, reopened on Friday after being closed by Israel for two days this week.
Operations were ceased on Wednesday and Thursday at the border point, which is under Israeli authority and used by Palestinians to cross into neighbouring Jordan, effectively sealing the West Bank off from the outside world.
"Operations at the Karama crossing will resume as of Friday, in both directions," announced head of the Palestinian General Authority for Crossings and Borders Nathmi Mhanna on Thursday.
He urged Palestinians and travellers to follow any updates regarding the crossing’s status on the Palestinian Authority’s social media platforms.
The Allenby Bridge - known as the Karama crossing by Palestinians and the King Hussein Bridge in Jordan - was closed on 18 September when a shooting left two Israelis dead.
Israeli authorities said security forces "neutralised" the attacker, a Jordanian truck driver who was armed with a gun and a knife, according to Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom.
Allenby was reopened but then shut again on Wednesday for two days. The reason behind the closure was unclear, but it came after several Western countries, including the UK and France, officially recognised a Palestinian state.
Jordan’s bridge security administration also announced on Thursday that the King Hussein Bridge (Allenby) would reopen to passenger traffic on Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. (5:00 until 9:30 GMT).
Vital economic lifeline
The crossing has been closed several other times in the past two years, including soon after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, and a year ago, after a shooting left three Israelis dead in response to the onslaught in Gaza.
Allenby is a vital economic lifeline for the West Bank, and Israel’s shuttering of the crossing is seen as a means to place further pressure on Palestinians in the West Bank, which has been subject to frequent military and settler attacks and expanding illegal Jewish settlements.
Bashar al-Saifi, the Palestinian deputy economy minister, told The New Arab’s sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that the Palestinian Authority had appealed to humanitarian, legal, and international organisations for urgent intervention to reopen the crossing, which he described as a vital gateway for Palestinians to the outside world.
He said the crossing is the most vital outlet for Palestinian exports, with about 90 percent of goods passing through it to reach Arab markets.
Al-Saifi said the closure of the crossing delivers a severe blow primarily to the Palestinian economy, in addition to paralysing the movement of individuals and disrupting the import of certain raw materials essential to local industries in the West Bank.
He also pointed out that a significant portion of humanitarian assistance destined for Gaza – where Israel has largely restricted the entry of aid – enters through the Allenby Bridge crossing via relief organisations.
This means that even a one-day closure of the crossing can prevent the already limited aid from reaching Gaza, he added.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza – nearing the end of its two years on 7 October – has killed over 65,500 people, most of them civilians.
Nablus raids
Meanwhile, in the northern West Bank, the Israeli army carried out a series of raids focused mainly on the Nablus governorate.
Troops reportedly arrested 22 Palestinians, including former detainees, activists, and journalists. Among those arrested was a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Yasser Mansour, who was taken from his home.
It is not clear if he or others have been released.
Israeli forces stormed several neighbourhoods in the city of Nablus, as well as the towns and villages of Kafr Qalil, Beita, and Zawata, in addition to the Old and New Askar refugee camps and the Balata al-Balad area.
Numerous homes were broken into, and arrests were made, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
Israeli forces arrested two young men from the town of Attil near Tulkarm after raiding their home.
Incursions were also reported elsewhere northwest of Ramallah and the Salfit governorate without arrests being made.
The West Bank has seen a spike in Israeli military operations and attacks by extremist Jewish settlers since the start of the Gaza war.
But since January particularly, a widescale military operation which has centred in towns and camps across the northern West Bank has seen close to a thousand Palestinians killed and thousands more detained.
Israel claims it is uprooting militant groups in the area, but has demolished homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee.