Four Israeli troops have been killed in a bomb explosion in southern Gaza and two more at the Jordanian border crossing.
An Israeli military statement confirmed that an officer and three soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in Rafah city.
The army said the dead troops served with the Dekel Battalion, adding that three other soldiers were also injured in the blast.
The incident happened when their Hummer transport vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device.
Military observers say that the area had been checked using a range of hi-tech methods at the IDF’s disposal but that Palestinian fighters have proven adept at placing IED’s between checks.
The dead soldiers have been named as Major Omri Chai Ben Moshe, aged 26, Lieutenant Ron Arieli, aged 20, Lieutenant Eitan Avner Ben Itzhak, aged 22, Lieutenant Eran Shelem, aged 23.
Jordanian truck driver kills two Israelis
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In a separate, unrelated attack, two Israelis were killed in a shooting near a border crossing with Jordan on Thursday, Israeli medics said.
Israel’s national ambulance service MDA said in a statement that two men, aged 20 and 60, were killed in the attack near Allenby (King Hussein) Crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.
Israel’s Army Radio said the attacker was “neutralised” at the site, without giving any further details.
The public broadcaster KAN claimed that the attacker was a Jordanian citizen carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The daily Yedioth Ahronoth, citing security sources, said the attacker was the driver of an aid truck, who stabbed the two Israelis after gunfire.
It said troops were conducting searches in the area and encircling the city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli Channel 14 that the two dead Israelis were soldiers.
Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said it has suspended passenger movement across the crossing after the terminal was closed from the Israeli side.
In a statement, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said that it has launched an investigation into the shooting incident.
The ministry reaffirmed Jordan’s “steady position condemning all acts of violence and rejecting all illegal actions that harm Jordan’s interests, role, and the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.”
It said authorities are coordinating to monitor the drivers who crossed the bridge to deliver aid to Gaza to ensure their safe and immediate return to Jordan.
Following the attack, Israel suspended the entry of humanitarian aid from Jordan to Gaza, even in limited amounts, the public broadcaster KAN reported.
The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 65,100 Palestinians since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and forced the population into famine.
In September 2024, three Israelis were killed by gunfire from a Jordanian truck driver at the same crossing.
Jordan shares three border crossings with Israel: Sheikh Hussein (Jordan River) Bridge, King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, and Wadi Araba (Yitzhak Rabin) Crossing.
