Freedom of movement is frequently imagined as a universal right, but for Palestinians, travel is associated with hassles that include queuing at exhausting lines and long waits inside crowded busses to cross borders.

Palestinians, commonly travel to Jordan for family, work, medical treatment, education, vacation, and to access the world beyond. Indeed, Palestinians with Palestinian Authority (PA) IDs holding Palestinian passports can only travel to other countries via Jordan, and Israel only allows them to take one route to do so: The King Hussein/Allenby Bridge. Palestinians with Israeli permanent-resident IDs holding Jordanian passports (which includes most Palestinian Jerusalemites) may have more options when it comes to travel, but the King Hussein Bridge is the closest and most practical route to Amman.

Conditions at this bridge have increasingly worsened in recent years, with the summer of 2026 marking the worst ever season.

Below, we take a deep dive into the complexities of travel for Palestinians and the reasons why the situation at this particular bridge has become intolerable.

The King Hussein Bridge (Jisr al-Malik Hussein in Arabic), also known as the Allenby Bridge (the original British name for it) or al-Karama (the Palestinian name for it) is the one crossing located in the occupied West Bank, and it is the only one Palestinians with PA passports must use to enter Jordan. Although all land crossings (including the King Hussein Bridge) are controlled by Israel, they are not allowed to use the two other crossings, because they are located in the area over which Israel considers itself sovereign: Sheikh Hussein Bridge (Jordan River Crossing) and Wadi ‘Araba (Yitzhak Rabin Crossing). 

As seen on the map below, Sheikh Hussein is the northern crossing, King Hussein is the central crossing, and Wadi ‘Araba, located close to the red sea between Aqaba and Eilat, is the southern crossing.

The Sheikh Hussein Bridge Crossing operates 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday. It is closed on Saturdays. Unlike the King Hussein Bridge Crossing, Wadi ‘Araba is open from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Neither border point has restrictions on the number of travelers that can traverse through it. In 2025, nearly 495,000 travelers used Sheikh Hussein, an increase of 24 percent from the previous year; and 1.93 million travelers used Wadi ‘Araba, a 19-percent increase from 2024.1

Interestingly, the number of travelers using the King Hussein Bridge Crossing each year decreased by 6 percent to 1.87 million, most likely due to Israel’s draconian policies and restrictions on movement through the crossing.2 The needs of this crossing seem to be treated as the lowest priority: in 2026, the Israeli hours of operation decreased to barely five and a half hours a day and even fewer on Fridays. It is closed on Saturdays.3

These details are summarized in Table 1, below.

Which route Palestinians use depends on their legal status.

For the millions who travel on Palestinian passports (issued by the Palestinian Authority [PA]), the only way they are allowed to leave and reach another country is through Jordan. Palestine does not have its own airport, and Israel does not allow Palestinians with these documents to travel through Ben Gurion Airport without a specific permit, which is rarely given (see Closure and Access to Jerusalem). In other words, for these Palestinians, to go to the airport would mean entering another country. For the same reason, although all three crossings are controlled by Israel, these Palestinians are not allowed to enter Israeli territory and thus can only use the King Hussein Bridge Crossing.

Thus, the only real option is to cross the border to Jordan and from there to proceed to Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. To do this, Palestinians need to drive to the bridge, passing through any Israeli military checkpoints along the way, cross the Israeli-controlled Palestinian border (passing through tight Israeli security for passport control), wait for the shuttle bus to arrive and fill up, usually in baking Jericho heat, take the bus to the Jordanian side, cross the Jordanian border going through its passport control, and from there, drive 57 km (about an hour and a half) to the Amman airport, all the while hoping and praying to get there in time to catch their flight.

This long and multistep process makes the ETA, or estimated time of arrival, unknowable, and thus the entire trip fraught with worry and stress.

Once (and if) they make it to Jordan, passengers avoid thinking about the greater dread: the return journey.

Jerusalemite Palestinians, just like most Palestinians, commonly travel to Jordan for family, work, medical treatment, education, and vacation.

Under current Israeli procedural regulations, Palestinians with Israeli permanent-resident IDs (i.e., most Palestinian Jerusalemites) may use Sheikh Hussein, which entails about a two-hour drive from Jerusalem and then a two-hour drive to Amman. Wadi ‘Araba Crossing, another option for those with Israeli permanent-resident IDs, entails a nearly four-hour trip from Jerusalem and then more than three hours to Amman. Travelers have to incorporate those hours into their transportation time, which does not include getting through the Israeli and Jordanian terminals. Both options were recently introduced, require advance early arrangements, and are subject to change.

While Palestinians who hold Israeli permanent-resident IDs are allowed to travel through Ben Gurion Airport, they generally do not have passports, neither Israeli nor Jordanian, unless they hold one from another country, for which they would risk losing their legal status as permanent residents (see Precarious Status).

Most Palestinian Jerusalemites are permanent residents of Israel, not citizens (see Precarious Status). To travel outside the country, they must apply for and carry a valid travel document called a laissez passer and, if they are heading to Jordan and they have one, a Jordanian temporary “passport,” which for most is also only a travel document that does not grant citizenship rights or nationality to the holder (for more details, see Precarious, Not Permanent: The Status Held by Palestinian Jerusalemites [Pt. 1]). Entering Jordan through the King Hussein Bridge Border Crossing is technically the fastest and most practical route for a Palestinian who is not an Israeli citizen to travel to Amman. If a Palestinian Jerusalemite were to consider flying from Tel Aviv to Amman in the summer of 2026 to avoid the restrictions and intense congestion at the bridge, it would cost no less than $1,500 and close to $3,000.4 Before Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, direct flights between Tel Aviv and Amman were available, but that is no longer the case as of this writing. So today, a flight from Tel Aviv to Amman would involve over eight hours of layover flights and security checks. Therefore, Palestinian Jerusalemites generally opt to travel by land, not air. However, each land crossing presents a set of challenges.

About two million Palestinian passengers, including East Jerusalem residents and foreign nationals, use the King Hussein Bridge Border Crossing over the course of the year. This is not the first summer that travelers have experienced horrid circumstances using this border crossing. With a massive number of travelers using this one border, the Jordanian side designated a company (JETT) to administer the process. This company has long served as the only authorized provider of the public shuttle service that carries travelers going between the Jordanian and Israeli terminals in both directions.

In the past two years, the Israeli side has required JETT to limit the daily capacity to 3,000 individuals.5 This number includes: Palestinians residing in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), VIP service travelers, and those commuting for trade-related purposes. The number of people needing to travel far exceeds this limit.

Furthermore, Israeli authorities allow travelers to enter the terminals on both sides only from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday through Friday, and they close the crossing on Saturdays.6 Additional cuts to availability occur during Israeli holidays, which are frequent. Moreover, every so often, Israel abruptly shuts down the crossing without notice. Travelers find themselves stuck, waiting in the dark about when and if they will be allowed entry, and feeling stressed and anxious about making it to important engagements or flights. A recent example of this was on July 9, 2026, when Israeli authorities closed the Palestinian border for nearly the entire day due to a strike by its workers.7

With this in mind, and in an attempt to make travel more organized, the Jordanian company recently established an online reservation system whereby every passenger needs to purchase a shuttle bus seat online and pay via credit card before heading to the bridge. The ticket per bus seat is about $10, with an extra $3 for each suitcase. The company also offers an expedited VIP service (ideally for travelers with special needs or urgent conditions), which costs $120.8

The idea was to provide a better travel experience: instead of not having a clue of what awaits them once they reach the border, travelers can now show up at the bridge feeling more relaxed, because they hold a ticket guaranteeing them access to the crossing and a seat on the shuttle bus between both terminals.

In principle, this was a good idea. However, a major issue occurred this summer: Travelers attempting to purchase tickets online could not do so. There were no seats available. For example, those wanting to cross the border from Jordan on June 1, 2026, found that the earliest available bus ticket was more than a month or two away. Even trying to book through the VIP service was not possible. Hundreds of people expressed exasperation at missing urgent matters related to work, school, and medical appointments, funerals, and weddings. As of July 22, 2026, for example, seats were only available starting August 30, 2026.9

Moreover, those who managed to book tickets (including the more expensive VIP tickets) had to wait long hours, sometimes exceeding seven hours, to make it through the bridge.

Various travelers who spoke to Jerusalem Story throughout June and July of this year, including foreign nationals using the King Hussein  Bridge, said that the situation is beyond horrid. They all offered the same solution: simply keep the crossing open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the chaos will be resolved.

Knowing that only about 3,000 passengers are allowed per day and there is a high demand,10 it is not surprising that corruption has surfaced, and individuals have been accused of manipulating the system. Instead of keeping the tickets for the travelers, several people have manipulated the system to sell tickets through the black market by double-booking tickets.11 Cross-border cigarette smuggling has also become an issue;12 the tobacco trade business and those benefiting from it have had a direct impact on the absence of available seats.13 Instead of leaving seats for actual travelers, informal businesses, many of which do not actually cross to the other side but do their trade in between the borders, have been buying up hundreds of tickets a day for trade purposes.

In response to overwhelming complaints from passengers stranded at the bridge, Jordanian Minister of Interior Mazin al-Farrayeh expressed grave concern about the situation on the ground.14 After his visit on June 21, 2026, he indicated that the Jordanian government is doing its best to administer the process in the most humane and organized way. The summer season generally sees much more congestion and an increase in passengers, he said, and the Jordanian side has been trying to coordinate with the Israelis for the crossing to be open 24 hours every day of the week (which is what travelers have been clamoring for). With that said, he explained that the online system that allots slots for travel is required to adhere to the restricted number as demanded by Israel. Canceling the online option for reservation of seats, as he explained it, will lead to further chaos; it may result in over 6,000 travelers showing up on one day, uncertain who among them will actually get to cross the border, and the stress and suffering will worsen.15

The Jordanian government has tried to resolve this chaotic situation, yet unrealistic Israeli restrictions have created an untenable situation. As long as there are limited operating hours and restrictions on the number of people allowed to cross the bridge, things will most likely be bad, if not worse, for travelers. Even before this new system was introduced, and restrictions were placed on the number of travelers, chaos and trouble were a part of the experience due to the limited hours and high demand. Passengers were stuck in long queues, stepping on each other’s feet, and fighting their way through the chaos. But now, things are devastating for Palestinian travelers. Thousands of people have endured horrific conditions as they wait long hours under the scorching sun in the Jordan Valley for the gates to open.

As Amira Hass of Haaretz has noted: “Travelers have reported children fainting from the heat and elderly passengers suffering dehydration while waiting for hours on stationary busses.”16 It is worth noting that it is seldom allowed for one to get out of the bus due to security. For Palestinians who live under Israeli control, such experiences are familiar, because they have to go through Israeli military checkpoints on a regular basis, which exposes them to similar hazardous conditions.

In addition to the physical hardships, Israeli policies keep people in panic mode: there are many cases of Palestinians who attempt to cross into Jordan through the bridge, only to be turned back because Israeli authorities have placed a travel ban on them without notice.17

The distance from Jerusalem to Amman is approximately 100 kilometers (about 62 miles), which is less than two hours by car. Before the 1967 War, there was a continuous, direct, and seamless drive from Jerusalem to Amman (via Jericho).

It is worth adding that not only is it no longer allowed to drive through the King Hussein/Allenby Crossing, but there are also Israeli exit fees of around NIS 180 ($60) that each traveler has to pay every time they leave the Israeli side, as well as a visa fee on the Jordanian side (JD 40 or $56 for one month; JD 120 or $170 for a six-month, non-extendable visa18), and transport costs to Amman. On the way back, the traveler must again pay the transport cost from Amman to the bridge, as well as a departure tax of JD 10 ($15). Notably, the exit fees from Sheikh Hussein and Wadi ‘Araba are considerably lower (NIS 120 or $40).19

Despite all the expenses and difficulties, people simply want the crossing to be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every year, thousands of Palestinians head to Saudi Arabia through Jordan for hajj and ‘umra (the latter can be done anytime), and thousands of others study abroad (such as in Türkiye, where the number of Palestinian university students has been steadily increasing20), with many others heading to conferences and work meetings, visiting families and loved ones, attending weddings and funerals, in Jordan or across the world.

Past Israeli announcements have indicated that this is possible, but government officials choose not to allow it. In 2009, when the bridge was open until 8:00 p.m., Israeli officials announced that the bridge would open 24 hours a day, though this was only briefly implemented in 2022.21 However, the crossing was open for commercial goods.22

Things were much smoother as of 2022, when the border crossing was open for some time for the full 24 hours, after US pressure (as well as Moroccan and Jordanian encouragement). Even before this change, things were better than today: the border functioned almost until midnight on weekdays and was open on Fridays and Saturdays until 3:00 p.m.23 However, after the war began on October 7, 2023, following Operation al-Aqsa Flood, Israeli authorities claimed that there were not enough army reserve officers or staff left to accommodate the needs of this border.24 This reasoning did not affect any other land crossing. Also Israeli security measures have quadrupled at this particular crossing due to two attacks that happened over a one-year span. Palestinian travelers were not responsible for either of the attacks. The first, by a Jordanian truck driver, was in September 2024,25 and the second, also by a Jordanian truck driver, was in September 2025,26 for which Israel blamed Jordan27 and decided to close the crossing indefinitely.28

Different accounts indicate that after Israel began its military occupation of the West Bank in 1967 and illegally incorporated East Jerusalem into the area over which it considers itself sovereign, ease of travel to Jordan was stressed—most likely for political reasons. In 1969, then Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan supported ease of travel to Jordan and said, “if the bridges were closed, the Arab population would suffer.”29

However, changes began with the signing of the 1993 Oslo I Accord and the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty when this route became the official crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan. Since then, it has been “the only crossing to the world for Palestinians who hold Palestinian Authority IDs, whom Israel bars from its airport. The bridge is their gateway to travel, visiting family members, and escaping the hardships of life under occupation.”30

Ultimately, the ongoing congestion and severe restrictions at the King Hussein Bridge highlight how Palestinian mobility remains subject to policies that disrupt everyday life, from education and work to family relations and medical care and business. Until operating hours are expanded and daily limits on the number of travelers are lifted, the crossing will continue to exemplify the broader challenges Palestinians face in exercising their freedom of movement under Israeli rule.