Israeli Police Intercept 74 Handguns Smuggled From Jordan
Jerusalem, 9 September, 2024 (TPS) -- Israeli Police confiscated 74 handguns being smuggled into the country from Jordan at a border crossing by Eilat on Monday.
The seizure comes one day after a Jordanian murdered three Israelis at another border crossing.
Inspectors at the Yitzhak Rabin border crossing in Eilat uncovered 74 handguns and 61 magazines in a vehicle entering from Jordan. Police detained the driver of the car and a passenger, both residents of the Negev Bedouin town of Bir Hadaj.
On Sunday, Jordanian Bedouin Maher Diab al-Jazi shot and killed three Israelis at the Allenby border crossing, near Jericho, after approaching the cargo area in a truck from the Jordanian side. He exited the vehicle during an inspection and began firing at guards who returned fire, killing Al-Jazi.
Following the attack, Israel temporarily closed its three other land crossings. Allenby reopened to pedestrian traffic on Monday but remained closed to trucks.
The Allenby crossing is primarily used by Palestinians in Judea and Samaria to travel to Jordan. Israeli travelers use border crossings in Eilat and the northern Jordan Valley.
The three Israelis killed were identified as Yohanan Shahouri, a 61-year-old father of six from Ma’ale Efraim, 65-year-old Yuri Birnbaum of Moshav Naama, and Adrian Marcelo Podmesser, a resident of Ariel.
Jordanians celebrated the attack with fireworks and distributing sweets.