Allenby Bridge King Hussein Bridge
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 The Allenby Bridge from the Jordanian side, 2006 | |
| Coordinates | 31°52′27″N35°32′27″E / 31.87417°N 35.54083°E /31.87417; 35.54083 |
| Carries | Pedestrians, vehicles |
| Crosses | Jordan River |
| Locale | |
| Named for | |
| Maintained by |
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| History | |
| Construction start | 1918 |
| Opened | 1994 |
| Rebuilt | 1968, 1994 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 3200 pedestrians and 33 trucks (2007)[citation needed] |
| Toll | |
| Location | |
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TheAllenby Bridge (Hebrew:גשר אלנבי,romanized: Gesher Allenby), known officially in Jordan as theKing Hussein Bridge (Arabic:جسر الملك حسين,romanized: Jisr al-Malek Hussein), is a bridge that crosses theJordan River near the city ofJericho in theIsraeli-occupiedWest Bank and the town ofAl-Karameh inJordan.
The bridge is currently the only officialborder crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, and is the sole designated exit/entry point for West Bank Palestinians travelling abroad by land.
Being 381 metres (1,250 ft) below sea level, it is the lowest fixed water crossing in the world.[citation needed]
The bridge is informally called theAl-Karameh Bridge (جسر الكرامة) or simplyAl-Jisr (الجسر,lit. 'the bridge') byPalestinians.[3]
In 1885 theOttoman government of theMutasarrifate of Jerusalem built a bridge at this site.[4]
In 1918British generalEdmund Allenby built a bridge over the remnant of the Ottoman predecessor.[4] The 1922 census lists 12 people (8 Christians and 4 Muslims) living at the bridge.[5] It was first destroyed by the1927 Jericho earthquake, when it fell apart and collapsed into the river.[6] The 1931 census lists 13 people (11 Muslims and 2 Christians) living at the bridge.[7]
It was destroyed again in theNight of the Bridges operation by thePalmach on 16 June 1946, thus severing one of the main overland connections betweenMandatory Palestine andTransjordan.[citation needed] The next destruction occurred during the 1967Six-Day War, after which was replaced in 1968 with a temporarytruss-type bridge.[citation needed] In 1994, subsequent to theIsrael-Jordan peace treaty, a new modern paved crossing was constructed adjacent to the older wooden one with the aid of theJapanese government.[8]
Since the 1994Israel–Jordan peace treaty, the Allenby Bridge Terminal has been operated by theIsrael Airports Authority.[9] 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 grantentry visas to foreign passport holders at this crossing, unlike the country's other border crossings with territory under Israeli control,[10] nor stamp the passports of departing travelers.[11] Palestinians traveling abroad can use the Allenby Bridge to exit the West Bank into Jordan and then use theQueen Alia International Airport inAmman to fly abroad. Travel permits from both Israeli and Jordanian authorities are required, with varied stringency depending on the prevailing political situation.[citation needed]
Israeli citizens are not permitted to use the terminal,[9] except Israeli Muslims making a pilgrimage to Mecca to perform theHajj andUmrah. Such pilgrims were allowed to use the Allenby Bridge crossing for the first time in 1978, after Jordan and Saudi Arabia permittedIsraeli Arabs to join the hajj in 1977.[12][13] 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.[citation needed]
The Jordanian side of the bridge has a branch of theBank of Jordan for the exchange of currencies.[14]
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