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Jordan’s security forces shot and killed a gunman in the capital Amman in an exchange of fire on Sunday morning, the government’s spokesman said. The incident took place near the Israeli embassy in the Rabieh neighbourhood, amid rising domestic pressure on the authorities related to the Gaza war.
Mohammad Al Momani said a man with a criminal record used an automatic weapon to commit “terrorist aggression” against “men of General Security”. The police earlier said the man, who has not been identified, “started firing gunshots at the security force, which in turn applied the rules of engagement, which resulted in the killing of the perpetrator”.
“The stability of Jordan and its security is a red line,” said Mr Al Momani, who has the rank of minister. He said the three wounded security personnel were receiving treatment in hospital.
Security forces have had to fire tear gas to disperse anti-Israel protests in Rabieh after some demonstrators tried to break through the security cordons around the Israeli embassy. Authorities have limited the scope of protests in the area and prevented any prolonged sit-ins. Demonstrations are also banned in areas near western interests and along the border with Israel.
King Abdullah II and his government have strongly criticised Israel’s war conduct in Gaza and repeatedly called for a ceasefire but more than a year of war in the Palestinian enclave has led to frustration with the official policy of honouring Jordan’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel, which obliges the two sides to prevent threats to each other’s security. The kingdom also has a defence pact with the US, Israel’s main ally, on which it depends for financial and military assistance.
Officials say no one has supported the Palestinian cause more than Jordan, highlighting the kingdom’s role in preserving Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, through a custodianship that traces its roots to the king’s great grandfather.
At least one senior official of Hamas, the Iran-backed militant group now fighting for survival in Gaza, has called on Jordanian tribes to attack Israel. Infiltration attempts into Israel from Jordan have increased this year, although most have failed. Last month, Israeli forces shot dead two members of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood who tried to mount a cross-border raid near the Dead Sea.
Descendants of Palestinian refugees comprise a large proportion of Jordan’s 11 million population, made up mainly of the tribes that lived there before it was established as the British Protectorate of Transjordan in 1921. Pro-Palestinian sentiment runs high among the two components of the population.
There has been uninterrupted stability since the ousting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation from Jordan in a civil war in 1970.