Jordan Postpones Trial of 32 ISIS Members

Five Syrians, accused of facilitating the Rukban bombings in June 2016, react during their trial at the State Security Court in Amman, Jordan December 4, 2017. Reuters/Muhammad Hamed
Five Syrians, accused of facilitating the Rukban bombings in June 2016, react during their trial at the State Security Court in Amman, Jordan December 4, 2017. Reuters/Muhammad Hamed
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Jordan Postpones Trial of 32 ISIS Members

Five Syrians, accused of facilitating the Rukban bombings in June 2016, react during their trial at the State Security Court in Amman, Jordan December 4, 2017. Reuters/Muhammad Hamed
Five Syrians, accused of facilitating the Rukban bombings in June 2016, react during their trial at the State Security Court in Amman, Jordan December 4, 2017. Reuters/Muhammad Hamed

Jordanian authorities released on Monday spokesman of the banned Tahrir Party Mamdouh Qutaishat, and member of the party's media office Mohammed Zalloum, after they were arrested in February following statements about the visit of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Jordan.

Lawyer of extremist organizations, Mousa al-Abdallat, said the release was made on bail of $7,000 after authorities agreement.

In the same context, lawyer Abdallat told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Jordanian authorities arrested doctor Hisham al-Jayousi on the grounds of belonging to the party, as well as Sami Amir and Haroun Obaid, residents of Amman and have been detained by the governor of the capital for more than 100 days for being members of Tahrir party.

Notably, being member of Tahrir party is punishable by law in Jordan for belonging to an illegal association and the penalty ranges from one to three years in prison.

In a related development, Jordanian State Security Court postponed the trial of 32 defendants, according to Abdallat, who is also the lawyer of several defendants. He indicated the court did not inform his clients of the reason for the delay.

Earlier this month, the Court commenced the trial of 32 ISIS members who planned to carry out terrorist acts against military and security sites, commercial centers, media stations and moderate clerics.

The accused were charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts, promote ideas of a terrorist group, engage in terrorist acts, sell weapons and ammunition to be used in terrorist acts, provide funds for terrorist acts, and possession of weapons for terrorist use as well as not reporting information related to terrorist activity.

In 2016, ISIS first appeared in Jordan, through a cell of the organization, where security forces then launched a preemptive attack on the cell stronghold in the northern city of Irbid. The attack, which turned into a clash lasted the whole night, and ended with the elimination of seven members of the cell and the killing of a member of the Jordanian force.

ISIS also adopted a car bomb in late 2016, inside a Jordanian center on the Syrian border near al-Rukban camp killing seven Jordanian soldiers and wounding 14 others.

The terrorist organization adopted the Karak operation in Jordan which resulted in the killing of the four attacking members, as well as ten others including seven of the security forces, two citizens, and a Canadian tourist.

The State Security Court has tightened the sentences imposed on ISIS members ranging from 3 to 15 years' imprisonment, depending on the actions of each accused.



Lebanon: Hezbollah Says it Launches First Drone Attack on Israel's Ashdod Naval Base

File photo: Members of Israeli security and emergency services deploy at the site of a shooting on the Yavne interchange, near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on October 15, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
File photo: Members of Israeli security and emergency services deploy at the site of a shooting on the Yavne interchange, near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on October 15, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Lebanon: Hezbollah Says it Launches First Drone Attack on Israel's Ashdod Naval Base

File photo: Members of Israeli security and emergency services deploy at the site of a shooting on the Yavne interchange, near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on October 15, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
File photo: Members of Israeli security and emergency services deploy at the site of a shooting on the Yavne interchange, near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on October 15, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Lebanon's Hezbollah has launched a drone attack on the Ashdod naval base in southern Israel for the first time, the Iran-backed group said on Sunday in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the attack.
On Saturday, Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut killed at least 20 people, as the once-rare attacks on the heart of Lebanon's capital continued without warning while diplomats scrambled to broker a cease-fire.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said 66 people were wounded in the strikes, which were the fourth in central Beirut in less than a week.
US envoy Amos Hochstein traveled to the region in pursuit of a deal to end months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has erupted into full-on war.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.
Also Saturday, a drone strike killed two people and injured three in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre. Other airstrikes killed eight people, including four children, in the eastern town of Shmustar, five others in the southern village of Roumin, and another five people in the northeastern village of Budai.