Israel says Amman embassy guard shot after being attacked

Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-24 16:46:52|Editor: Song Lifang
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JERUSALEM/AMMAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The security guard of Israeli embassy in Amman who killed two Jordanians had been attacked by them before he opened fire, said Israeli foreign ministry on Monday.

The embassy staff was assaulted by the Jordanians with a screwdriver in one of the embassy buildings, before he shot dead the two and was injured in the incident, said the foreign ministry in a statement.

The statement also said that the guard had diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention.

Meanwhile, relatives of one of the Jordanians, Mohammad Al Dawaimeh, a 17-year-old boy, held protests on Monday calling for investigations to reveal the truth.

"We demand the truth. Mohammad is a child. We do not know what happened. He has no political orientations whatsoever," Emran Dawaimeh, a relative of Mohammad, told Xinhua.

"We call on the Jordanian government to tell the truth to all. The narrative by the police is mysterious," he added.

Jordanian police said the investigation was still in its early stage, and the public security department has launched a broader probe into all details of the shooting.

According to Israeli media, Jordan has demanded to investigate the security guard and has banned the embassy staff from leaving the compound.

The incident came amidst escalating tensions between the two countries, sparked by metal detectors that Israel has installed at the entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, a compound run by the Jordanian Muslim Waqf under a long-held status quo.

There have been several protests in Jordan over Israeli security measures in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jordanian demonstrators repeatedly called for the closure of the Israeli embassy in Amman and expelling the ambassador over tensions in the holy site.

The detectors also triggered protests and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, which claimed the lives of at least four Palestinians.

Israel's cabinet held a meeting from late Sunday to early Monday to discuss the spiraling violence at the compound.

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