Jordan’s Public Security Directorate (PSD) announced on Sunday, November 24 that three Jordanian policemen were injured in a shooting attack that targeted police personnel deployed near the Israeli Embassy in Jordan’s capital Amman in the early hours of Sunday.
The PSD added that the attacker fired several rounds at a police patrol with a machine gun, and subsequently, the police exchanged fire with him and shot him down. The Directorate pointed out that the suspect was also in possession of several Molotov cocktail bottles.
Although the incident was seen by many as a targeted attack against the Israeli Embassy in protest of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, Jordan’s government said it was a “terrorist attack” targetting PSD personnel, and that it was carried out by outlaws “with criminal and drug-related records.”
Jordan’s Government Communications Minister Mohammad al-Momani warned in a statement on Sunday that “Jordan’s security and stability are red lines and no one will be allowed to tamper with it.”
“Tampering with the security of the country and assaulting public security personnel will be met with uncompromising firmness and in accordance with the law,” Al-Momani reiterated. “Any criminal who attempts to do so will receive just retribution,” he added.
As per speculations that the attack was launched in retaliation for Israel’s massacres in Gaza, Al-Momani emphasized that “Jordan’s strength, resilience and stability are the solid foundation for supporting the nation’s issues, foremost among which is the Palestinian cause.”
The vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Amman has always been surrounded with heavy presence of Jordanian security forces. More forces have been deployed to the area, which became a flashpoint for frequent mass demonstrations, especially following the Israeli genocide against the people of Gaza in the aftermath of October 7. On some occasions, outraged protesters even attempted to storm the embassy although it has been reportedly emptied of its staff, ever since.
As Israel has insisted on perpetuating its aggression on Gaza and Lebanon thwarting all international efforts for a ceasefire, the outrage of the people across the region has aggravated, above all among Jordanians. The last few months marked two major cross-border shooting attacks carried out by Jordanian nationals against Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
In September, Jordanian truck driver Maher al-Jazi shot three Israeli soldiers dead at the King Hussein (Allenby) bridge. One month later, Jordanian young men Amer Qawas and Hossam Abu Ghazalah were killed after opening fire at Israeli soldiers, injuring two of them.
Israel’s previous efforts for normalization with countries in the region have apparently gone in vain, as the governments of these countries became unable to contain the ire of their people against the Zionist entity. It seems that Israel has unconsciously raised a collective tendency for resistance among the new generations, who proved to be determined to end the occupation and the century-long struggle of the Palestinian people for sovereignty and self-determination.
