JERUSALEM >> A gunman killed three Israelis at a sensitive border crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to the Israeli military.

The attack comes amid a surge of violence in the West Bank since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel prompted the Israel-Hamas war, and at a delicate moment for the relationship between Israel and neighboring Jordan.

The gunman arrived Sunday at the Israeli-controlled part of the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan in a truck and opened fire on Israeli security forces, the military said in a statement. The military did not identify the gunman, who was killed at the scene. The three victims were forklift operators who worked at the crossing, according to the Israel Airports Authority.

Jordan’s Interior Ministry said an initial investigation identified the gunman as Maher al-Jazi, a Jordanian citizen from the southern part of the desert kingdom. The early findings determined the gunman acted alone, the ministry said.

The crossing, near the West Bank city of Jericho, is the main pathway for most Palestinians in the occupied territory to travel abroad and for the transport of commercial goods between Jordan and the West Bank. It has also served as an entry point for some aid being delivered to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the gunman as “an abhorrent terrorist” and extended his condolences to the families of the victims.

It was not immediately clear how the gunman managed to take a weapon into the Israeli-controlled part of the crossing. The Israel Airports Authority said in a statement that the Allenby Bridge was closed, as were two land crossings between Israel and Jordan.

The motive of the attacker was not immediately clear. Hamas, which has called on people in Jordan to escalate protests and violence against Israel, praised the attack but did not take credit for it.

The Interior Ministry said “relevant parties” were coordinating to repatriate the body of the attacker for burial in Jordan.

Jordan, whose population is heavily made up of people of Palestinian origin, has been the site of large protests over the war in Gaza since the fighting there began in October. But the country is a close U.S. ally that has a peace treaty with Israel.

Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel in November and has repeatedly condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. King Abdullah II of Jordan has been among the key figures pushing for a cease-fire in the enclave.

At the same time, the kingdom has maintained its delicate peace treaty with Israel and continues to coordinate with Israeli officials on matters such as security and the economy. In April, Jordan helped intercept Iranian missiles and drones during tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Israel — a move that Israeli officials welcomed and some Palestinians denounced.

The Allenby Bridge crossing has been the scene of earlier violence. In 2014, Israeli soldiers fatally shot a Jordanian judge of Palestinian origin at the crossing, heightening tensions between the neighboring nations.

Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 after capturing it from Jordan during the Arab-Israeli war that year.

Violence there has risen sharply since the Hamas-led attack on Israel last October. According to the United Nations, Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 600 people in the West Bank since then. Some of those killed were claimed as members by militant groups in the occupied territory, but others appear to have been civilians.

Sunday’s shooting at the crossing came just days after Israel appeared to withdraw from the West Bank city of Jenin after a 10-day raid. The operation, which Israel’s military said was part of an effort to crack down on Palestinian armed groups and to combat rising attacks against Israelis, left behind a trail of destruction.

The Israeli military said it had killed 14 militants during the operation, while the health ministry of the Palestinian Authority, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, said 21 people had been killed.