Jordan condemns Zuaiter’s killing at Security Council

AMMAN — Jordan condemned at a Security Council session on Tuesday the killing of Jordanian Judge Raed Zuaiter by the Israeli army last Monday.

The condemnation was voiced by the Kingdom’s  permanent representative to the UN, HH Prince Zeid, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Following a Security Council meeting in New York on the situation in the Middle East, Prince Zeid told reporters that Jordan expressed its strong denouncement of the killing of Zuaiter by the Israeli occupation forces. 

The Kingdom, he said, is waiting for the results of the joint investigation into the incident before taking any action.

Zuaiter, a judge at the Amman Court of First Instance, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers on the King Hussein Bridge crossing linking Jordan and the West Bank.

Israel claimed that he tried to seize the gun of a soldier, but an eyewitness refuted that claim, telling The Jordan Times that Zuaiter was provoked and beaten by two soldiers before they shot him dead.

Tel Aviv has agreed to Jordan’s request to carry out a joint probe into the incident.

Prince Zeid said Jordan also raised the issue of Israeli violations at Al Aqsa Mosque complex during the Security Council session. 

The Kingdom expressed strong condemnation of such provocative Israeli measures in Jerusalem, he said, out of “our pan-Arab responsibilities and obligations as custodians” of Islamic and Christian sites in the Old City.

As the only Arab member of the council, Jordan will follow this file closely on behalf of all Arabs and especially Palestine, he said, according to Petra.