Since October 2023, ten thousand aid-laden trucks have crossed through the Allenby Crossing bound for the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, for the second time in just under a year, a Jordanian truck driver—selected by the Amman-based army—exited his vehicle after crossing the national border and opened fire, stabbing two Israeli soldiers, aged 20 and 68. Both soldiers succumbed to their severe wounds shortly thereafter at the scene. The terrorist was killed by security guards.
In response, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has recommended the government suspend all humanitarian aid entering Gaza from Jordan. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry stated the country “condemns and rejects” the attack “as a violation of international law, Jordan’s interests, and its ability to provide humanitarian aid to the enclave.” It identified the assailant as 57-year-old Abd al-Mutalib al-Qaisi, who had begun distributing aid in the Strip three months ago.
Israel suggested tensions with Amman could theoretically escalate. A post on X from the Israeli Foreign Ministry read: “We facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza and terrorists exploit this to kill Israelis. This is the result of the deceitful propaganda spread by Hamas, which echoes beyond its borders. This must end.” However, an unofficial source told Ynet that aid deliveries would continue via Egypt and other routes, citing the essential need as the IDF’s rapid offensive in Gaza City forces hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee south.
Hamas has returned to threatening Israel regarding the hostages, warning, “The enemy will not capture a single hostage, alive or dead. The hostages are scattered across different neighborhoods of Gaza City. The expansion of the IDF operation means none of them will be returned from captivity.”
Meanwhile, in Rafah, four IDF soldiers were killed by an explosive device planted on a road by terrorists still operating in the south. Thousands of displaced people continue to arrive in the area, fleeing the IDF’s maneuver to take the enclave’s capital. Some displaced persons told Haaretz that a single truck ride to southern cities like Deir al-Balah or Khan Younis (a distance of 14-25 km) can now cost up to 7,000 shekels ($2,000) in cash.
Despite heavy losses sustained in nearly two years of war, Hamas has managed to recruit approximately 10,000 new militiamen, including many very young individuals, as a military intelligence member reported to the Knesset on Wednesday evening. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters, led by the sole surviving Qassam Brigades old-guard commander, Az al-Din al-Haddad, are operating in Gaza City’s narrow alleyways, repairing damaged tunnels, and building weapons and assembling explosives in underground facilities. Loud booms heard overnight Wednesday into Thursday followed an IDF strike on a warehouse packed with explosives, causing chain-reaction detonations and widespread chaos.
From Yemen, the Houthis launched drones and a missile at Israel in the evening. The missile was intercepted after a prolonged chase. Tel Aviv’s international airport was temporarily closed, and sirens sent millions of people in central Israel and the Jerusalem area rushing to shelters. In Eilat, a drone bypassed aerial defenses and struck the entrance of a hotel. The IDF also struck again in southern Lebanon following two evacuation warnings, destroying weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s elite forces who remain on the ground.
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