Israel to ‘Gradually’ Reopen Jordan Embassy

Policemen are seen near the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan July 23, 2017. (Reuters)
Policemen are seen near the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan July 23, 2017. (Reuters)
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Israel to ‘Gradually’ Reopen Jordan Embassy

Policemen are seen near the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan July 23, 2017. (Reuters)
Policemen are seen near the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan July 23, 2017. (Reuters)

Israel announced on Tuesday that it was “gradually” reopening its embassy in Jordan following a shut down that was prompted by a deadly shooting in its vicinity last year.

The embassy in Amman is in the process of "gradual reopening," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said, without providing further details.

On July 23, a security guard for the Israeli embassy shot dead a Jordanian worker who had stabbed him in the back with a screwdriver after coming to an apartment to install furniture, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.

A second Jordanian, the apartment landlord, was also killed -- apparently by accident.

The guard, who claimed self-defense, was briefly questioned by investigators in Jordan before returning to Israel along with the rest of the embassy staff.

He received a hero's welcome from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with ambassador Einat Shlein, sparking widespread anger in Jordan.

Amman later said it would not allow the embassy staff to return until Israel opened a serious investigation and offered an apology.

Israel's justice ministry said in August it was launching a police "examination" into the incident.

On January 18, Jordan said Israel had apologized for the killing of the two Jordanians as well as the killing of a Jordanian judge by an Israeli soldier at the countries' border in 2014, and agreed to compensate all three families.

A Jordanian spokesman had said that the bereaved families accepted the apology and compensation, and that Israel had met all the conditions to reopening the embassy.

Netanyahu said Israel had "expressed regret" over the July shooting and agreed to pay compensation to the Jordanian government, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.



Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank.

After the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, targeted sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the former government will still remain in place, Switzerland's governing Federal Council said.

"The aim of this decision is to promote the country's economic recovery and an inclusive and peaceful political transition," the council said in a statement.

After an initial easing of sanctions in March, Switzerland is now lifting restrictions on the provision of certain financial services, trade in precious metals and the export of luxury goods, the government said.

Some 24 entities including the central bank of Syria have also been removed from the sanctions list, it added.

The announcement follows the EU's decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria at the end of May after a similar move by the US Treasury Department in the same month.