A Jordanian truck driver shot dead two Israeli soldiers on Thursday at the main border crossing between the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jordan, Israel's foreign ministry and military said.

"Today, a Jordanian who was supposed to drive a humanitarian aid truck to Gaza, murdered two Israelis at the Allenby border crossing," the ministry posted on X.

Israel's military said one of the men was an officer in the civil administration's reserve unit, while the other was a soldier.

It had earlier said security forces "neutralised" the attacker, who according to Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom was armed with a gun and a knife.

The men, aged about 20 and 60, were wounded in the attack at the Allenby crossing and received initial treatment at the scene before being pronounced dead, the MDA said in a statement.

"We continued the medical care, including resuscitation efforts, at the end of which we sadly had to pronounce them deceased," the MDA quoted one of its medics as saying.

Jordan condemned the attack, which it called a crime and said jeopardises "its ability to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip", where the United Nations declared a famine last month.

The Israeli military urged the government on Thursday to halt the entry of humanitarian aid from Jordan to Gaza, "until the completion of the incident's inquiry and the implementation of revised screening procedures for Jordanian drivers.

A Jordanian foreign ministry statement said authorities launched an investigation, identifying the suspect as 57-year-old Abdul Mutaleb al-Qaisi, "a civilian who has worked for three months as a driver to deliver aid to Gaza".

At the bridge, which Jordan said Israelis had closed from their side, an AFP journalist reported a queue of vehicles forming.

The Allenby crossing in the Jordan Valley is the only international gateway for Palestinians from the West Bank that does not require entering Israel, which has occupied the territory since 1967.

Israel's Channel 12 television network reported the attacker had opened fire and stabbed the victims, showing images of a blood-stained knife and a gun on the ground.

Commenting on the fact that he travelled in an aid truck, far-right National Security minister Itamar Ben Gvir wrote on X after the assault: "Humanitarian terror attack."

In September 2024, a Jordanian truck driver shot dead three Israeli guards at the crossing before he was killed.

Thursday's attack comes as the Israeli military pounded Gaza City with artillery shelling and air strikes and pressed a ground offensive, forcing thousands of people to flee to southern Gaza.

Violence in the West Bank has also surged alongside the Gaza war, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023.