Two Jordanians were killed and an Israeli security guard was wounded in an attack yesterday inside the Israeli Embassy compound in the capital city of Jordan.
According to reports, Mohammed al-Jawawdeh, a 17 year-old, entered an apartment in the compound to replace the furniture. He began stabbing the guard from behind with a screwdriver multiple times and was shot in response and killed. The landlord was also injured in the attack and later died of his wounds.
An Israeli source has reported that the injured security guard is Deputy Director of Security at the Israeli Embassy in Amman.
The injured guard is currently banned from leaving Jordan as an investigation into the shooting is still underway, but Israeli authorities dispute the decision, under the Vienna Convention, claiming that the guard has diplomatic immunity which means he is exempt from questioning and prosecution.
The incident occurred late Sunday afternoon, however Israel’s military censor did not allow any Israeli new sources to publish the story until early Monday morning as attempts to secure the release of the security guard were underway.
This incident comes just days after thousands of people gathered in Amman to protest against the increased security measures at Temple Mount.
There has also been a rise in anti-Semitic protests across the region including in Turkey and Lebanon following the Temple Mount attack, during which two Israeli policemen were shot dead by three Arab-Israeli gunmen following the installation of metal detectors at the al-Aqsa mosque entrance in Jerusalem, just under two weeks ago.
The ramifications of the incident on Israeli-Jordanian relations are still unclear. Jordan and Israel signed a historic peace treaty in 1994, making Jordan the second Arab country, after Egypt, to sign a peace deal with Israel.
