Israeli military kills 2 attackers crossing from Jordan’s Dead Sea area

The incident follows an attack last month when a gunman from Jordan killed three Israeli civilians at a border crossing in the occupied West Bank

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Israel police block the road at the entrance of the southern Israeli city of Arad, north of the Negev desert, after the army said two attackers entered Israeli territory from Jordan at the southern tip of the Dead Sea and opened fire at Israeli troops before being “neutralised”. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:55pm, 18 Oct 2024Updated: 8:01pm, 18 Oct 2024

The Israeli military said on Friday it had identified what it called “a number of suspects” in Jordan’s border area trying to cross into Israel south of the Dead Sea region and had killed two of them after they opened fire on Israeli forces.

“Two terrorists who crossed a few metres over the border into Israel and opened fire toward the forces were eliminated by two IDF [Israel Defence Forces] reservists in the Home Front Command,” the military said in an updated statement.

“During exchanges of fire with the terrorists, an IDF soldier and an IDF reservist were lightly and moderately injured and were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment.”

The military added that Israeli security forces continued to conduct searches “due to the suspicion of the presence of an additional terrorist in the area”.

Israeli security personnel stand near the scene of a shooting attack after Israel’s military said it identified attackers crossing from Jordan to south of the Dead Sea. Photo: Reuters

A military source with the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces said in a statement posted on its website that there was “no truth” in reports that Jordanian soldiers had crossed the western border of Jordan into Israel.