Israeli Closure Of Jordan-Palestine Crossing Turns West Bank Into Prison: 3 Million Palestinians Under Tight Siege

(MENAFN- Amman Net) The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused Israel of imposing an unjustified blockade by shutting down the Karameh/Allenby/King Hussein Bridge – the only gateway for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the outside world. The ministry said the move amounts to collective punishment, effectively locking more than three million Palestinians inside what it described as a“giant prison.”

According to the ministry, the closure is not a temporary security measure but part of Israel's long-term strategy of“creeping annexation,” fragmenting Palestinian geography into isolated towns, villages, and refugee camps surrounded by some 1,200 military checkpoints and iron gates.

Thousands Stranded in Limbo

The decision has left thousands of Palestinians stranded on both sides of the crossing. Around 2,000 travelers remain stuck in Jordan, unable to return to their homes in the West Bank. Many were forced to sleep in mosques or outdoors due to high costs and the limited number of daily crossings allowed.

Journalist Helmi Abu Atwan, one of those stranded, described the scene as“tragic,” saying hundreds of passengers-including the sick, elderly, women, and children-waited for hours under the scorching sun, with only a fraction allowed to cross.

Security Pretext, Political Message

Israel justified the shutdown as a response to a border incident in which a Jordanian killed two Israeli soldiers. Yet, according to the Israeli daily Maariv, the closure also reflects political anger in Tel Aviv over Jordan's refusal to condemn the attack. Analysts say the move sends a dual message to both the Palestinian Authority and Amman: Israel alone decides when and if Palestinians can move.

Economic and Humanitarian Toll

The closure has also disrupted the commercial lane used for goods, threatening vital trade between Jordan and the West Bank, which exceeded $432 million in 2022. Official data shows truck traffic dropped from 15,000 in September 2023 to just 6,000 in October after the Gaza war, while daily passenger numbers plunged from 19,000 to barely 3,000.

The Palestinian rights group Hurryyat condemned the move as a blatant violation of freedom of movement and an extension of the collective punishment policy Israel has enforced since 1967-restricting Palestinians' access to work, healthcare, education, and even religious sites.

From Border Crossing to Prison Gate

Journalist Daoud Kuttab argues that Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank live inside“a massive prison controlled by Israel.” While Gaza has endured a suffocating blockade since 2008, the Karameh Bridge remains the only exit point for 3.3 million West Bank residents, yet it operates entirely at Israel's discretion.

Over the decades, control of the crossing has shifted but never escaped Israel's grip. Since ousting Palestinian police from the crossing in 2000 after the Second Intifada, Israel has maintained direct control, imposing restricted hours unlike other border terminals with Jordan. In recent years, closures have increasingly been imposed unilaterally, sometimes without notice-underscoring that Palestinian mobility remains hostage to Israel's political will.

Calls for Urgent International Action

The Palestinian foreign ministry has instructed its embassies to mobilize international pressure for the immediate reopening of the crossing. It warned that prolonged closure would deepen the humanitarian and economic crises facing millions of Palestinians and urged the global community to act decisively to end what it called Israel's“policies of annexation, displacement, and collective punishme

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