MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine national killed in terrorist attack on West Bank border with Jordan

Podzamczer, 52, had been a resident of the Ariel settlement for years

Argentine-Israeli national Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer, aged 52, was one of the three people killed in a terrorist attack Sunday at the Allenby border crossing bridge between Jordan and the West Bank when a terrorist got out of a lorry and opened fire on Israeli security forces before being eventually gunned down.

 Podzamczer, a resident of the Ariel settlement, had been living in Israel for several years. According to the Times of Israel, it was initially feared that the truck would be loaded with explosives but the threat was promptly ruled out.

The King Hussein Bridge is the only crossing between the West Bank and Jordan. Israeli and Jordanian authorities said the crossing was closed until further notice, and Tel Aviv announced the closure of its two land border crossings with Jordan, near Beit Shean in the north and Eilat in the south.

The Argentine Embassy in Israel expressed its “strong condemnation of the cowardly terrorist attack perpetrated today at the Allenby border bridge where three people were killed, including an Argentine-Israeli citizen.” It also reaffirmed “its absolute condemnation of all forms of terrorism, expresses its solidarity with the State of Israel, and conveys its condolences to the families of the victims.”

The attack occurred at 10.30 am local time when 39-year-old terrorist Maher Dhiab Hussein al-Jazi opened fire at the Israeli security forces on the bridge. The assailant was a resident of the southern Jordanian city of Udhruh, east of Petra.

In addition to Podzamczer, also killed in the incident were a 61-year-old father of six from the West Bank settlement of Ma`ale Efraim, and a 65-year-old Na`ama settler.

“The murderers do not distinguish between us, they want to murder us all, every last one of us: the right and the left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and maintain close security ties, an example of that strong nexus being Jordan's support for Israel last April when Iran launched a direct attack.