JERUSALEM 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Wednesday to build a barrier along the border with Jordan to prevent what he said are attempts to smuggle weapons and fighters into the West Bank and Israel.

“We know that we need to secure our eastern border with Jordan. This is a border of peace. We are partnering with the Kingdom of Jordan to ensure that it remains so,” Netanyahu said while overlooking the Jordan Valley and accompanying army commanders.

He claimed that “there is an attempt to smuggle both terrorists and weapons across Jordan into Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and into the cities of Israel.”

Netanyahu did not specify who he believes is behind the alleged smuggling attempts.

His comments were made after the killing Sunday of three Israeli security guards at the King Hussein Bridge by gunfire from a Jordanian truck driver.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, the "Wadi Araba" agreement, in 1994.​​​​​​​

On Aug. 12, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated his call for expediting the construction of a wall along the border with Jordan.

The wall “must be expedited to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Jordan into Israel, which threatens both the Jordanian regime and the State of Israel,” he said in a statement.

In response, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that Israeli government policies pose the “biggest threat” to regional security.

“No amount of disinformation by radical Israeli officials spreading lies, including about Jordan, will change the fact that Israel’s continued aggression on Gaza, its violation of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people are the biggest threat to regional security,” Safadi wrote on X.

“Facts speak way louder than lies,” he said. “The facts about the horrors this most radical of Israeli governments is bringing upon innocent Palestinian women, men and children and the threat of its illegal actions and radical policies to the security and stability of the region are so clear and documented.”

Legal experts, however, assert that building a wall on the eastern border of the occupied West Bank should be done with the approval of the Palestinian Authority, as it is the legitimate authority responsible for the area.

The border between Jordan and Israel, and the West Bank, extends 335 kilometers (208 miles), with 97 kilometers along the West Bank and 238 kilometers along Israel.

Jordan and Israel are connected by Sheikh Hussein, King Hussein Bridge and Wadi Araba border crossings.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala