Jordan–Palestine border
The line down the Jordan River and the Dead Sea between Jordan and the West Bank. Jordan ruled the West Bank from 1949 until Israel occupied it in 1967, and gave up its claim in 1988. Israel controls the one crossing Palestinians use to travel abroad, the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 29 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:Jordan →Palestine →
From Jordan’s west bank to the West Bank
The West Bank, part of the former British mandate of Palestine, came under Jordanian control after the 1948 war, and the Jordanian–Israeli armistice of 3 April 1949 provisionally set its boundaries. Jordan claimed it as part of the Hashemite Kingdom from 1949 until 1988, when it gave up the claim so that the Palestine Liberation Organization could pursue autonomous rule there.[1]
Israel occupied the West Bank in the Six-Day War of 1967, and it has remained under military occupation since. After the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority took on civil administration for Palestinians in parts of the territory. The West Bank’s hills descend eastward to the low-lying Rift Valley of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, which form its eastern edge.[1]
The bridge
The King Hussein Bridge, also known as the Allenby Bridge and as Karama on the Palestinian side, is in practice the only exit and entry point for Palestinians travelling abroad from the West Bank without entering Israel, and the crossing is controlled by Israel.[2]
In September 2025 a Jordanian driver of a humanitarian aid truck killed two Israeli soldiers at the crossing, an attack claimed by Hamas’s armed wing. Israel closed the bridge, briefly reopened it, and on 23 September ordered its indefinite closure to people and goods. Some Israeli media read the step as a response to countries recognising a Palestinian state.[2]
“to passenger and cargo traffic by the other side until further notice”[2]
Timeline
19493 April 1949
Armistice
Jordan and Israel provisionally set the West Bank’s boundaries.[1]
1967
Six-Day War
Israel occupies the West Bank.[1]
1988
Jordan’s claim ends
Jordan relinquishes its claim to the West Bank.[1]
202523 September 2025
Bridge closed
Israel orders the crossing shut indefinitely after an attack.[2]
More borders
Jordan
Sources
- [1]West Bank · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- [2]Israel shuts crossing that connects occupied West Bank to Jordan · Al Jazeera (with AFP and Reuters) · 23 September 2025
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.