Jordan says foiled suicide attacks against Israeli targets in occupied West Bank

Five suspects are on trial in Jordan for allegedly plotting to carry out suicide attacks against Israeli targets in the occupied West Bank, a judicial source told AFP on Tuesday.

The Jordanian source said the trial of the suspects, all citizens of the kingdom, had begun recently at the state security court, a military tribunal that usually deals with terrorism-related cases.

“The state security court recently began legal proceedings against five people accused of involvement in a terrorist plot, which the intelligence unit foiled in February,” the source said.

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The suspects are accused of “planning to carry out suicide attacks against Israeli targets in the occupied West Bank,” the source added.

The suspects were arrested in February, according to the source, who did not say why news of their detention was not made public then.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

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Report of the alleged foiled plot comes amid increased tensions over Israel’s plans to annex part of the West Bank, infuriating the Palestinians and eliciting a warning from Jordan it could review ties with Israel.

According to the charge sheet, one of the suspects had visited the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip in 2007, where he was trained to make explosive vests and bombs.

The suspect returned to Jordan in 2010 and seven years later, recruited the four other suspects with whom he plotted to infiltrate the West Bank and carry out attacks “with bombs against buses and trains and with explosive vests against other Israeli targets.”

Jordan is the only Arab state apart from Egypt to have a formal peace treaty with Israel.

Despite the 1994 agreement, relations have been tense in recent years, but security and intelligence cooperation between the two neighbours remain tight.