Man jailed for planning attacks on ‘Jews’

AMMAN  — State Security Court (SSC) on Wednesday sentenced a defendant to seven years of hard labour for planning stabbing attacks against Jews in the West Bank, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The Jordanian convict, who carries a Palestinian ID, attempted to enter Jerusalem from Hebron where he was arrested and charged with threatening to carry out a terrorist act.

He raised suspicions when he was asking people in Hebron about the way to enter Jerusalem, according to court documents cited by Petra. 

Also on Wednesday, SSC sentenced three Palestinians to three years with hard labour for attempting to smuggle weapons to the West Bank.

One of the defendants, who is from Nablus and visits Jordan regularly planned with the other two defendants, who work in Irbid, to smuggle weapons to use them in illegal acts.  

The trials were among rare cases when Jordan’s judiciary punishes persons for acts or plots against Israelis in the occupied West Bank. 

Last year, a 57-year-old Jordanian man was shot dead after stabbing and injuring an occupation officer in Jerusalem’s Old City. The government then described the killing as a “crime”.