Israel arrests Jordanian lawmaker on arms-smuggling charges

Jordan’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that Israeli authorities have arrested a Jordanian lawmaker on suspicion of smuggling arms and gold into the occupied West Bank.

The legislator has been identified as Imad al-Adwan. Jordanian media reported that al-Adwan was arrested on Saturday while trying to enter the Israeli-occupied West Bank through the Allenby Bridge border crossing.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sinan Majli said that Jordanian authorities were following up the matter “to ascertain the merits of the situation and to resolve it as soon as possible”.

Fox News Digital has contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry for comment.

The incident threatens to further strain strained relations between Jordan and its neighbor Israel.

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“Jordan’s parliament has long been a forum for the worst kind of anti-Israel satire,” said Joe Truzman, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Now, it appears that one of its members has turned from speech to action. Is.” a statement.

“This would continue to be a flagrant violation of both the letter and spirit of the nearly three-decade peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. Amman must make amends, and publicly, swiftly.”

A car passes a road sign indicating the Allenby (King Hussein) bridge crossing point to Jordan (background) in the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank on January 28, 2021. (Ahmed Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

The West Bank has seen an increase in violence over the past year. Israel says the area is flooded with illegal weapons, including guns smuggled in from neighboring Jordan.

More than 90 Palestinians and 18 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this year. Israel says most Palestinians are wanted terrorists, but stone-throwing youths protesting army incursions and people not involved in the confrontation have also been killed. All of the Israelis killed were civilians.

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Since Israel’s Netanyahu-led government took office, relations with Jordan have deteriorated over Israeli settlement construction, violence in the West Bank and policies on holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.