Israel reportedly to compensate family of Jordanian killed by embassy guard

Israel will reportedly pay compensation to the family of a Jordanian man who was shot dead in Amman by an Israeli embassy guard who was trying to defend himself during a stabbing attack.

The compensation will be transferred after Bashar Hamarneh’s relatives have ended their mourning period, the Kan broadcasting corporation reported on Tuesday. It wasn’t immediately clear what sum Israel will pay to the family.

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday declined to comment on the report.

The stabber was also killed by the guard, who suffered minor injuries in the incident.

The Sunday evening stabbing and shooting caused a serious diplomatic crisis, as Jordanian authorities demanded to question the guard while Israel refused to hand him over, citing his diplomatic immunity.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the Israeli guard, identified only by his first name, Ziv, was stabbed by 17-year-old Mohammed Jawawdeh, who was in an embassy residence installing a bedroom set.

Ziv opened fire on Jawawdeh, killing him and a second man, Hamarneh, at the site, in what the ministry said was self-defense.

Some members of Jawawdeh’s family said he was killed in cold blood and demanded the Israeli guard be executed.

The deadlock was resolved after a flurry of diplomacy including a visit by the head of Israel’s Shin Bet General security agency, Nadav Argaman, to Amman on Monday followed by a phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah II.

As part of the US efforts to end the crisis, US special envoy Jason Greenblatt was dispatched to Amman and Jerusalem, where he held meetings with Netanyahu and Jordan’s foreign minister as he tried to help broker an agreement.

Late on Monday night, the Amman embassy staff — including the security guard — returned to Israel. Shortly afterward, the security cabinet voted to remove newly installed metal detectors from the Temple Mount, a move Jordan had been demanding, though both Israel and Jordan denied the two seemingly linked moves were part of a deal.

Israel had erected the detectors after a deadly July 14 terror attack at the site, which was carried about with firearms smuggled onto the Mount. The cabinet decided to replace the metal detectors with “advanced technologies” — reportedly high-tech security cameras able to detect concealed weapons carried by passersby.

The Hashemite Kingdom has seen public outrage over the fact the guard was allowed to leave, and Jordanian lawmakers stormed out of a rocky parliament session that was reviewing the events.

Thousands of Jordanians chanted “death to Israel” on Tuesday at the funeral for the assailant shot dead by the security guard.

They carried pictures of the 17-year-old along with Palestinian and Jordanian flags, and chanted “Death to Israel”.

“We will go to Jerusalem as martyrs by the millions,” they chanted.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a news conference on Tuesday that Jordan did not strike “deals” or hold “negotiations” with Israel over the shooting.

He said the government had been intent on questioning the Israeli guard before allowing him to leave the country, “and despite his diplomatic immunity we were able to reach an agreement to take his deposition.”

Jordan will pursue the investigation until “the truth is reached and justice is done,” said Safadi, who was flanked at the news conference by the government spokesman and the state minister for legal affairs.

On Monday night, Jordan said its inquiry into the incident had confirmed that the Israeli guard was attacked by the Jordanian teenager in what it said began with a dispute over the late delivery of the furniture.

AFP contributed to this report.