Shooting incidents and border infiltration attempts growing source of concern for Jordan

A gunman was killed and three policemen injured after a shooting incident near the Israeli embassy in the Jordanian capital, a security source and state media said on Sunday.

Police shot a gunman who had fired at a police patrol in the Rabiah neighbourhood of Amman, state news agency Petra reported, citing public security, adding investigations were ongoing.

Jordanian police had earlier cordoned off an area near the heavily-policed embassy after gunshots were heard as police and ambulances rushed to the Rabiah neighbourhood, where the embassy is located.

The area is a flashpoint for frequent demonstrations against Israel. The kingdom has witnessed some of the largest peaceful rallies across the region as anti-Israel sentiment runs high over the war in Gaza.

Police had called on residents to stay in their homes as security personnel searched for the culprits, a security source said.

The frequent occurrence of security incidents in the kingdom has raised questions as to whether they are lone-wolf acts, influenced by developments in the Gaza Strip and the region, or are instead part of organised activity planned and carried out by groups with regional connections, say analysts.

Jordanian authorities are said to worry about the possible presence of an organised network aiming to destabilise Jordan and drag it into the region’s maelstrom of violence.

Minister of State for Communications and Government spokesman Mohammad Momani described the shooting incident in Rabiah as a “terrorist attack.” He added that “investigations are ongoing regarding the heinous terrorist incident to uncover all the details and connections and to take the necessary security and legal measures.”

Jordanian officials have previously warned against plans to incite strife and violence inside the kingdom, hinting at possible Iranian involvement in such activity.

Jordan experts note that the reoccurrence of shooting incidents has coincided with an escalation in the pace of infiltration attempts by drug and weapon smugglers, across the border between Jordan and Syria.

Officials say there has been a spike in such attempts in recent weeks by drug and arms smugglers linked to pro-Iranian militias who hold sway in southern Syria.

The army says they have also used drones in their operations.

Analysts say that the Jordanian concern is that the occurrence of three attempts to infiltrate the Jordanian border from southern Syria during the last twenty-four hours, at the same time as the Rabiah incident, could be more than just a coincidence.

Security experts suspect some form of coordination between radical forces inside the country and the so-called Axis of Resistance led by Tehran.

If this theory is confirmed, it will not augur well for Jordan’s stability.

Damascus denies any complicity and says it tries to curb rampant drug and arms smuggling across the border with Jordan.

Many of Jordan’s 12 million citizens are of Palestinian origin. They or their parents having been expelled or fled to Jordan in the fighting that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948. A large number also has family ties on the Israeli side of the Jordan River.

Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel is unpopular among many citizens who see normalisation of relations as betraying the rights of their Palestinian compatriots.