Three Israeli civilians were shot and killed on Sunday at the Allenby Bridge border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Israeli officials reported. 

The gunman, who approached the crossing from the Jordanian side in a truck, opened fire before security forces shot him dead. The three victims were Israeli men in their fifties, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.

This marked the first such attack along the Jordan-Israel border since the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated following Hamas' assault on southern Israel on October 7. 

The attack took place in a commercial cargo area under Israeli control where Jordanian trucks offload cargo entering the West Bank, officials said. The Allenby Bridge, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, is a key crossing for Palestinians, international tourists and cargo shipments. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooting, saying, "A loathsome terrorist murdered in cold blood three of our civilians."

Meanwhile, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri praised the attack, referring to it as a response to Israel's offensive in Gaza. "We expect many more similar actions," he said.

Shortly after, Israel closed all three of its land border crossings with Jordan, including those near Beit Shean in the north and Eilat in the south. Jordan is investigating the shooting, according to its state media and a border official said at least two dozen Jordanian truck drivers in the offloading area had been detained by Israel's military for interrogation.

Gazan rescue official killed

In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on Sunday killed a senior official in the Civil Defense, responsible for emergency services and rescue in the enclave, and four of his family including two women and two children. 

The Civil Defense said the strike targeted the home of its deputy director for north Gaza, Mohammed Morsi, in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on Morsi's death.

Gaza's health ministry on Sunday reported the latest death toll of at least 40,972 Palestinians killed and 94,761 others injured since October 7.

Vaccination drive extended 

Meanwhile on Sunday the United Nations, in collaboration with local health authorities, extended its campaign to vaccinate children in the southern Gaza Strip against polio by a day before it moves to the north on Monday.

The initiative aims to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza after its first polio case was recorded in around 25 years and has been using limited pauses in fighting to proceed.  

U.N. officials said they were making progress, having reached more than half of the children in the first two stages in the southern and central Gaza Strip. A second round of vaccination will be required four weeks after the first.

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