Israeli embassy shooting in Jordan leaves 2 dead

International Desk Published: 24 July 2017, 03:42 AM
Israeli embassy shooting in Jordan leaves 2 dead

Two Jordanians have been killed and an Israeli wounded in a shooting incident at the Israeli embassy in Jordan's capital Amman, according to a local security source.

The two Jordanians were working for a furniture firm and entered the embassy before the shooting, police say.

Few details have been revealed and what sparked the shooting is unclear.

Security forces have sealed off the embassy and Israeli authorities have evacuated staff.

The shooting happened in a residential building used by the Israeli embassy, Jordanian police say.

The police said investigations were still in their "initial phases".

Israeli authorities are not commenting on the incident and have imposed reporting restrictions.

The heavily protected embassy is located in the Rabiyeh neighbourhood, an affluent part of Amman.

Holy site row
On Friday, thousands of Jordanians protested in Amman against Israel over the installation of metal detectors at a site sacred to both Muslims and Jews in East Jerusalem.

Jordan, which occupied East Jerusalem from 1949 to 1967, is the custodian of the site, which is known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and Jews as the Temple Mount.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians over the site have surged in recent days in response to the metal detectors, which were put in place following the killing of two Israeli policemen.

Security cameras have now also been installed at a gateway leading to the site.

Source: BBC