On November 15, Jordan’s State Security Court sentenced three men to death by hanging for a lethal attack on a Greek Orthodox church that left nine people dead.
The October 23 assault in the southern governorate of Karak targeted a funeral ceremony in the village of Hamoud, roughly 100 kilometers south of Amman. Armed assailants opened fire on the congregation, injuring 34 others in what authorities described as one of the deadliest strikes against the country’s Christian minority in decades.
Security forces tracked the suspects three days after the shooting to an abandoned house in Karak. The October 26 operation culminated in a fierce firefight before officers finally took the three men into custody.
The fallout from the church massacre quickly crossed international borders. On the day of the arrests, the Jordanian military launched airstrikes in southern Syria, targeting factions that Amman linked to the Hamoud attack.
Those aerial operations drew immediate regional friction when the strikes killed seven civilians, including three children and one woman. The Jordanian government subsequently acknowledged the civilian casualties in neighboring Syria.
Following the civilian deaths, Canal 9 Bío Televisión reported that Jordan and Syria agreed to establish a joint security committee to examine the incident and manage its aftermath. Amman remains a key strategic partner to the United States in regional counter-terrorism initiatives.
The death sentences handed down under Anti-Terrorism Law No. 55 of 2006 are not yet final. State news agency Petra confirmed that the rulings remain subject to appeal and an automatic review by the Court of Cassation.
