Israeli embassy guard in Jordan kills assailant, bystander during stabbing attack
Published July 24, 2017
An Israeli embassy guard in Amman, Jordan killed his Jordanian assailant and a bystander after being stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver.
Jordanian police are demanding to question the guard in the incident, which occurred on Sunday evening, while relatives of the stabber, a 17-year-old who had entered the residential building used by the Israeli embassy in order to install some furniture, are calling for the death penalty for the guard.
The Israeli embassy has refused to release the guard to the Jordanians for questioning, saying he has immunity. Jordan, meanwhile, refuses to allow the guard to leave the country. The Israeli diplomatic team remains confined to the embassy compound, despite plans to evacuate the embassy staff and return them to Israel, Haaretz reported.
In addition to shooting the attacker in the chest and killing him, the guard killed the owner of the building when he was hit with a stray bullet, according to reports.
The Foreign Ministry told Israeli media that it considers the incident to be a terror attack and related to the current Temple Mount crisis.
The attacker reportedly entered the home of an embassy official to replace the furniture when he saw the security guard and stabbed him with the screwdriver. The guard then pulled out his firearm and killed his attacker.
The father of the teen assailant reportedly told a Jordanian television station that he does not believe his son intended to attack an Israeli. However, he also said, I consider my son to be a martyr for Allah.”
Thousands of Jordanians demonstrated against Israel in Amman on Friday over the installation of metal detectors at the Temple Mount. Among the chants heard at the demonstration was:”How beautiful it is to kill soldiers in Jerusalem,” Ynet reported. The Jordan-based Islamic Waqf is the administrator of the Temple Mount
