The Allenby Bridge (), known officially in Jordan as the King Hussein Bridge (), is a bridge that crosses the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

near the city of

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

in the Israeli-occupied

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and the town of Al-Karameh in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. The bridge is currently the only official

border crossing Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

between the West Bank and Jordan, and is the sole designated exit/entry point for West Bank Palestinians travelling abroad by land. Being below sea level, it is the lowest fixed water crossing in the world.

Etymology

The bridge is informally called the Bridge () or simply (, ) by

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

History

In 1885 the Ottoman government of the

Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (, ; , , ), also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was a district in Ottoman Syria with special administrative status established in 1872.Büssow (2011), p5Abu-Manneh (1999), p39Jankowski & Gershoni (1997), p174 T ...

built a bridge at this site. In 1918 British general

Edmund Allenby Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer and imperial governor. He fought in the Second Boer ...

built a bridge over the remnant of the Ottoman predecessor. The 1922 census lists 12 people (8 Christians and 4 Muslims) living at the bridge. It was first destroyed by the 1927 Jericho earthquake, when it fell apart and collapsed into the river. The 1931 census lists 13 people (11 Muslims and 2 Christians) living at the bridge. It was destroyed again in the

Night of the Bridges The Night of the Bridges (formally Operation Markolet) was a Haganah venture on the night of 16 to 17 June 1946 in the British Mandate of Palestine, as part of the Jewish insurgency in Palestine (1944–47). Its aim was to destroy eleven brid ...

operation by the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

on 16 June 1946, thus severing one of the main overland connections between

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

and Transjordan. The next destruction occurred during the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, after which was replaced in 1968 with a temporary truss-type bridge. In 1994, subsequent to the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, a new modern paved crossing was constructed adjacent to the older wooden one with the aid of the

Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...

Allenby Bridge border crossing

Since the 1994

Israel–Jordan peace treaty The Israel–Jordan peace treaty (formally the "Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan"),; Hebrew transliteration, transliterated: ''Heskem Ha-Shalom beyn Yisra'el Le-Yarden''; ; Arabic transliteration: ' ...

, the Allenby Bridge Terminal has been operated by the

Israel Airports Authority The Israel Airports Authority (IAA, , ''Reshut Sdot HaTe'ufa BeYisra'el''; ) was founded in 1977 as a Government-owned corporation, public corporation mandated by the Israel Airports Authority Law. The authority is responsible for the management ...

.About: Alleby Bridge
Israel Airports Authority. It serves as a border crossing between the west and east banks of the Jordan River. The Jordanian authorities recognize the bridge as an international border entry point, but neither Jordan nor Israel grant entry visas to foreign passport holders at this crossing, unlike the country's other border crossings with territory under Israeli control, nor stamp the passports of departing travelers. Palestinians traveling abroad can use the Allenby Bridge to exit the West Bank into Jordan and then use the Queen Alia International Airport in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

to fly abroad. Travel permits from both Israeli and Jordanian authorities are required, with varied stringency depending on the prevailing political situation. Israeli citizens are not permitted to use the terminal, except Israeli Muslims making a pilgrimage to Mecca to perform the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

and

Umrah The Umrah () is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia. It can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the '' Ḥajj'' (; "pilgrimage"), which has specific d ...

. Such pilgrims were allowed to use the Allenby Bridge crossing for the first time in 1978, after Jordan and Saudi Arabia permitted

Israeli Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory that was acknowledged as Israeli by ...

to join the hajj in 1977. Tourists who wish to travel to Jordan may have to be in possession of a visa from Jordan in advance, depending on their nationality. Tourists and inhabitants of East Jerusalem may travel directly to an Israeli terminal, although Palestinians from the West Bank have to start the departure procedure at the special Palestinian border terminal in Jericho city. The Jordanian side of the bridge has a branch of the Bank of Jordan for the exchange of currencies. File:Opening of the Allenby Bridge (1918).jpg, The opening of the original Allenby Bridge in 1918 File:Allenby Bridge LOC Matson 22904.jpg, Larger bridge built in the 1930s next to the original one visible behind it File:King Hussein Bridge.jpg, Allenby (

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was traditionally considered a 40th-generati ...

) Bridge after being blown up by the

in 1946 File:Allenby bridge destroyed after 1967 war.png, The bridge after being destroyed by Israel during the 1967

File:King Hussein Bridge sign - Palestinian side.jpg, King Hussein Bridge inscription (western end), 2013 File:Palestine refugees flee across the Allenby Bridge during the second Arab-Israeli hostilities in 1967.jpg, Palestine refugees flee across the Allenby Bridge during the second Arab-Israeli hostilities in 1967 File:Palestinian refugees crossing the destroyed Allenby Bridge in 1967.jpg, Palestine refugees flee across the Allenby Bridge during the second Arab-Israeli hostilities in 1967

References

External links

US Consular Information Sheet - Jordan

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120204222708/http://www.jordanriver.jo/articles/pdf.pdf Crossing the River Jordan (Jordan River Foundation)
Allenby Border Terminal info

Original bridge, ''circa'' 1893, burnt by the Turks during WWI
{{Authority control Bridges completed in 1968 Bridges in Jordan Bridges over the Jordan River Jordan–West Bank border crossings Toll bridges

Etymology

History

Allenby Bridge border crossing

See also

References

External links