Jordan Reportedly Trying 5 for Plotting Attacks against Israelis

Jordan has placed five citizens on trial for planning suicide attacks against “Israeli targets” in the West Bank, a Jordanian “judicial source” has told the AFP news agency. The source said the plot was uncovered in February. The accused were arrested near the northern city of Irbid and are now standing trial in a military court that handles matters related to terrorism. Tensions are currently high between Jordan and Israel over repeated assertions by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that he plans to annex parts of the West Bank starting next month. Last month, King Abdullah II told the German magazine Der Spiegel that any annexation “would lead to a massive conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.” The king has also been highly critical of Israeli policies regarding Jerusalem’s holy places. He considers himself the guardian of Muslim and Christian sites in the contested city, a status noted in the peace treaty the two country’s signed in 1994.