Jordanian authorities convicts two terror suspects in terror plot against Israeli forces

Two men were sentenced in Jordan to ten years in prison with hard labor for planning a terror attack on Israeli forces on the Hashemite Kingdom’s border with the West Bank.

The two Jordanian men, in their 20’s, were planning to commit the attack with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a pistol, the state security court in Amman ruled Wednesday according to Times of Israel, after US President Donald Trump announced the controversial decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem.

One of those convicted planned “to carry out an armed terrorist operation… after (Trump’s) decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem and over the abuses against Palestinians by the Israeli army,” the ruling reportedly read.

The two men from Madaba, just south of the capital, were caught by Jordanian border guards in May last year before reaching the border, where Israeli guards patrol the area.

The convicts admitted they were also ready to shoot at Jordanian authorities if they should interfere in the planned attack, the court found.

Israel has in the past accused Jordan of playing a “double game” when it comes to condemning terrorism, despite being the only country other than Egypt to have a peace agreement and formal relations with the Jewish state.

Half of Jordan’s population has Palestinian roots, and the country says it has taken in over one million Syrian refugees since the civil war broke out in 2011.

Last year, Jordanian security forces foiled a plot last year by an Islamic State-affiliated terrorist cell to attack Western and Jordanian targets in the capital, including the US embassy and visiting Israeli businessmen.

At the same time, Jordan and the United States unveiled a counter-terrorism training center south of Amman aimed at handling crisis management, hostage-taking, cyberterrorism and the detection of explosives.

Source: i24 News