Jordan River Crossing

The crossing links passenger travel between Israel and Jordan with freight movement between Jordan and Israel’s Mediterranean port infrastructure.[2] Its position near Haifa and its port, central Israel, and central Jordan supports both movement between the two countries and the conveyance of goods.[3] It also forms part of a wider route linking Aqaba and Haifa and connecting Gulf-state trade, including shipments from Bahrain and Dubai, with Haifa Port.[2]

The terminal is approximately 10 kilometers east of Beit She’an, near the Sheikh Hussein Bridge, and is the northernmost border crossing over the Jordan River.[3][4] It lies near Kibbutz Maoz Haim in the Beit She’an Valley.[5] Names used for the crossing include Sheikh Hussein, Gesher-Sheikh Hussein Bridge, Jordan River Terminal, and Sheik Hussein Gateway.[1][3] A 1997 bilateral agreement uses the name Sheikh Hussein–Nahar Hayarden Bridge.[6]

The crossing is distinct from the southern passenger crossing near Eilat, identified as the Rabin terminal.[7] It is one of three crossings along the 309-kilometer Israel–Jordan border, which extends from Eilat in the south to Hamat Gader in the north.[8]

A bridge at the Sheikh Hussein site was restored by the Ottomans in the nineteenth century, blown up in June 1946, subsequently restored by Jordan, and destroyed again after the 1967 war.[9] The modern crossing was inaugurated in November 1994, when the Israel–Jordan treaties were ratified.[1] Named after a nearby Jordanian village, the newly inaugurated bridge was intended to link Irbid with Haifa Port and to accommodate organized groups of Israeli tourists traveling to Jordan, as well as cargo trucks moving in both directions.[10]

Annex V of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty established procedures for the countries’ crossing points, providing for movement in both directions by Jordanians, Israelis, and third-country nationals, subject to each country’s regulations.[1] It specified an operating schedule of Sunday through Thursday, 08:00–18:30, with exceptions for Yom Kippur and the first day of the Al Hijrah calendar; these were treaty provisions rather than confirmation of current opening hours.[1]

During the first eight months of 1995, more than 100,000 Israelis and Jordanians passed through the Sheikh Hussein and Arava crossings combined.[11] That figure covers both crossings and does not establish a separate passenger total for Sheikh Hussein.[11] In September 1995, the Jordanian road approaching the Sheikh Hussein border post was being developed into a highway, while additional construction was still needed between the crossing and the nearest highway junction on the Israeli side.[11]

The border terminal opened in 1996 following the peace agreements and bridge construction.[7] In 1997, the agreement establishing the Irbid Qualifying Industrial Zone designated an enclave under Israeli customs control within the crossing’s boundaries.[6] Merchandise could enter that enclave without payment of duty or excise taxes, and the agreement provided for customs procedures designed to facilitate the flow of goods.[6]

A new Sheikh Hussein Bridge was inaugurated in 1997, replacing a Bailey bridge built after the November 1994 peace agreement that had proved too narrow for traffic.[5] A transport agreement allowed vehicles to travel between the countries, and Jordan was then expected to build a similar bridge alongside the Israeli one.[5] The inauguration of the crossing in 1994, the terminal opening in 1996, and the replacement bridge inaugurated in 1997 represent different stages described in the crossing’s development.[7][5]

The terminal serves passenger traffic as well as cargo, with separate bridges for trucks and for other vehicles, including buses and private cars.[2] A 2017 government guide described its passenger services as available to Israeli citizens and foreign tourists, “with the exception of Palestinians”; that dated description is not a current travel-eligibility notice.[3]

In 2024, combined figures for the Jordan River and Menachem Begin border terminals showed more than two million passenger crossings in 2023 before the outbreak of the war.[4] Passenger traffic fell sharply during the first months of the war and subsequently began to recover.[4] The combined figure does not provide a passenger count for the Jordan River Crossing alone.[4]

By 2015, the crossing was described as Israel’s largest border terminal with Jordan, with a nearby freight terminal operated by the Jordan River Border company.[12] Israeli trucks delivered goods to the terminal for unloading and transfer to Jordanian trucks, including refrigerated cargo.[12] At that time, Jordan did not allow containers to cross through the terminal.[12]

The crossing supported goods moving between Haifa and Jordan, with some shipments continuing onward to Gulf states.[12] One documented supply chain involved apples grown in Greece, shipped by sea to Haifa, trucked to the crossing, and then transported to Amman.[12] Truck traffic stood at approximately 30,000 vehicles annually in 2015, following annual growth of about 10–15 percent in preceding years.[12]

A 2026 assessment put daily throughput at up to 250 trucks, most carrying goods from Jordan.[2] Trucks arriving from Jordan are inspected and unloaded at the cargo terminal, and their loads are transferred to Israeli trucks in the “back to back” procedure.[2] Both sides have customs complexes, scanning facilities capable of inspecting about 20 trucks per hour, quarantine facilities, and facilities for handling hazardous materials.[2]

Container arrangements remained asymmetric in 2026: Israel allowed containers to enter from Jordan, while Jordan did not reciprocate except for fruits and vegetables from Europe.[2] Goods also traveled from Gulf states to Israel through the crossing, although the costs and handling process made that trade worthwhile principally for relatively expensive products.[2]

Throughput figures varied over time: a September 2026 account put freight activity at approximately 100–150 trucks daily, compared with 230–250 daily until September 2024.[13] Staffing shortages, longer security inspections, and freight diverted from the Allenby crossing after tighter security procedures there contributed to operating pressures.[13] More than 600 trucks were waiting on the Jordanian side in late July 2026.[13] A plan announced in September called for extending the crossing’s operating hours from 17:00 to 20:00 beginning October 4, 2026; the announcement did not itself establish that the extension had been implemented.[13]

Plans available in 2026 aimed to increase capacity from approximately 250 to 500 trucks a day.[2] The required works included widening the access road, expanding inspection capacity, preparing another 50 dunams of terminal space, and widening a bridge to five lanes, three of them for incoming trucks.[2] Improvements to Routes 71 and 66 were also envisaged pending railway construction, while increased passenger and cargo volumes would require additional equipment and staff.[2]

The Jordan River Crossing–Haifa Port transport route encompasses the crossing, roads 71, 60, 66, and 70, the railway route toward Haifa, and the port area.[2] Its infrastructure offers advantages over other land-border options, but geopolitical and security sensitivities affect reliability, and rising demand could strain operations without improved inspection systems.[2]

A railway extension proposed in 2019 would have connected the Jezreel Valley railway at Beit She’an with the border crossing through an Israeli section approximately 15 kilometers long.[14] The proposal included a freight terminal and a passenger station designed to interface operationally with the crossing.[14] It envisaged a possible route for Jordanian and Iraqi import and export cargo through Israel’s Mediterranean ports, while a railway connection into Jordan remained a future possibility rather than an existing service.[14]

The proposed Jordan River–Haifa rail corridor remained incomplete in 2026.[2] Most of the corridor’s statutory railway planning had been completed, but budgeting and construction were still required for the Beit She’an–border segment; full connectivity also required a cargo terminal, additional stations, track doubling, and an operational depot.[2] Completing railway access to the border was estimated to cost 3.5–4 billion shekels, with an elevation difference of approximately 100 meters between Beit She’an and the crossing contributing to the engineering difficulty.[2]