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Jordanian killed and Israeli wounded at Amman embassy

Jordanian security forces stand guard outside the Israeli embassy in the residential Rabiyeh neighbourhood of the capital Amman on July 23, 2017

A Jordanian was killed and an Israeli seriously wounded in a shooting Sunday at the Jewish state's embassy in Amman, a security source and the police said. A second Jordanian was wounded "in a shooting at a residential building inside the compound of the Israeli embassy," the police said in a statement. It said police were notified in the late afternoon of a shooting at the compound in the residential Rabiyeh neighbourhood of Amman. Police deployed to the scene and surrounded the area, the statement said. "An initial investigation indicated that three people were wounded, one an Israeli who was taken to hospital," it said, adding that two Jordanians were wounded and one later died of his injuries. The police statement said the two Jordanians had gone into the building to carry out "carpentry work". An investigation into the shooting was still underway, the police said. The security source told AFP the casualties were the result of an unspecified "incident". "A Jordanian man was killed and an Israeli man wounded and is in a serious condition following an incident inside the (Israeli) embassy" said the source who declined to be named or give further details. Jordanian security forces deployed in the streets around the embassy, an AFP correspondent said. Israel and Jordan are bound by a 1994 peace treaty, but tensions have been high in recent days after Israel security measures at a highly sensitive holy site in annexed east Jerusalem. On Friday, thousands of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman after the weekly prayer to denounce the Israeli measures at the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount. Jordan is the official custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. A crowd estimated at more than 8,000 turned out for a demonstration called by Islamist movements and leftist parties. Israel shut off the mosque compound on July 14 after Arab Israelis attacked and killed two police officers nearby. Violence flared between Israeli security forces and Palestinians who are demanding that Israel remove metal detectors installed outside the site after the attack.