Ramallah, Palestine/ISTANBUL

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned Israel’s decision to close the main crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, calling the move collective punishment and demanding its immediate reopening.

In a statement, the ministry said it instructed Palestinian embassies and missions abroad to intensify diplomatic contacts with host governments and international bodies to expose what it described as a “crime carried out under direct orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

It stressed that shutting the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge has caused severe humanitarian and economic hardship, leaving thousands of Palestinians stranded away from their families, jobs, schools, and medical treatment. The crossing is the only gateway for more than 3 million West Bank residents to the outside world.

“This closure is part of Israel’s policy of collective sanctions and its creeping annexation of the West Bank, turning it into a giant prison,” the statement said.

The ministry warned that such unilateral actions are designed to escalate tensions, dismantle prospects for a Palestinian state, and undermine the two-state solution.

The crossing was closed last Thursday after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shooting attack there. On Tuesday, Israel’s Army Radio reported that Netanyahu had decided to keep the terminal closed “until further notice.”

The closure comes amid a wave of international recognition of Palestine. Eleven countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Belgium, announced their recognition of Palestinian statehood in the past three days, raising the total to 159 of the UN’s 193 member states.