IDF troops shoot dead two suspects trying to cross into Israel from Jordan
Suspects were part of group of migrants looking for work; six others with them arrested; troops opened fire after pair said to have ‘jumped out of the bushes’ at them
Israeli soldiers shot dead two suspects who crossed into Israel from Jordan near the northern town of Beit She’an shortly after midnight between Thursday and Friday, the military said.
The two suspects were part of a group of at least eight who were trying to cross into Israel together. Israeli troops arrested the other six suspects.
The eight had been identified by soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras, who dispatched troops to the scene.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that as the troops arrived at the scene, “the suspects approached the forces in a way that was a threat to them,” and they opened fire, hitting the two.
The Kan public broadcaster cited one of the troops as saying: “While we were searching, two suspects suddenly jumped out of the bushes at us, so we opened fire.” The sudden movement led the troops to believe that they were under threat.
The pair of suspects succumbed to their wounds, while the other six were taken into custody for questioning.
According to a military source, all of the suspects appeared to be migrants looking for work.
No IDF soldiers were injured during the incident.
Late last year, the Defense Ministry said it had begun preliminary work to establish a fence along the entire border with Jordan to prevent infiltrations into the country.
The move to upgrade defenses along the 309-kilometer (192-mile) border running from Eilat through the West Bank to the tip of the Golan Heights, ordered by Defense Minister Israel Katz, is the latest attempt by the government to take up the plan, which has long been bandied about but never advanced.
The work will include mapping out potential environmental hazards, conducting soil surveys, and laying an initial section of the fence with surveillance equipment and networking infrastructure.
There is an aging chain link fence equipped with sensors along some of the border that Jordan shares with Israel and the West Bank. Other sections are only equipped with barbed wire.
The border’s porousness has made it a site of frequent gun- and drug-running, as well as for work migrants to try and enter Israel or the West Bank for employment.
