Jordan: State Security Court Rules against Terror Suspects

Jordan: State Security Court Rules against Terror Suspects
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Jordan: State Security Court Rules against Terror Suspects

Jordan: State Security Court Rules against Terror Suspects

Jordan's State Security Court issued on Wednesday 16 verdicts on terrorism cases in which the defendants planned to target national security, security headquarters, army barracks, a number of strategic government sites and a number of foreign embassies.

Some of the accused were convicted of belonging to ISIS, promoting its ideology and attempting to join terrorist groups.

In its verdicts, which were issued under the chairmanship of its State Security Court President Colonel Mohammed al-Afif and membership of the civilian judges Ahmed al-Qatarneh and Dr. Nasser al-Salamat, the court explained that the defendants were members of terrorist organizations and that most of them belong to ISIS.

The verdicts ranged from 15 years imprisonment (maximum) to two and a half years of imprisonment, while there are some convicts who were acquitted.

The court convicted two of the accused with possession and manufacture of explosives for the purpose of illegal use and ordered the imprisonment of one of them for 15 years and the other for 10 years.

According to the indictment, the first suspect was wanted in several cases and classified as "very dangerous". He disappeared in a non-populated area and was possessing explosive devices he has manufactured already to attack security men when they try to arrest him.

The defendant was able to manufacture 18 explosive devices with the help of the second defendant. While driving a stolen pickup truck carrying 10 explosive devices, one of which was within his reach, security officers apprehended him, arrested him, seized the devices and eight others from his house.

The court also sentenced the accused to 15 years in prison and three others to five years each.

The main suspect planned to attack security guards of a foreign embassy in Amman and carry out an "incursion operation" by stabbing the security men with a large knife.

The indictment said that the accused worked as a butcher, and he brought the knife before the operation to his home and wrote a will to his parents asking them to smile when receiving his corps because he called himself a "martyr". However, the suspect was arrested before carrying out the operation, and the knife and the will were seized from inside his house.



Lebanon Sentences Activists in Absentia for inciting Israeli Attacks

A UN convoy in southern Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
A UN convoy in southern Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
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Lebanon Sentences Activists in Absentia for inciting Israeli Attacks

A UN convoy in southern Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
A UN convoy in southern Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, June 2, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem

Lebanon's judiciary has charged two anti-Hezbollah activists in absentia with inciting Israeli attacks against the Iran-backed group and sentenced them to 15 years in prison, a judicial official told AFP on Friday.

It is the harshest sentence yet against activists expressing support for Israel, which has officially been at war with Lebanon for decades.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the two individuals, Ahmed Yassine and Joumana Gebara, both living outside Lebanon, were charged with "collaborating with Israel and inciting it to continue its military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon" by the military tribunal in a trial that began in November 2024.

Yassine, a Paris-based university professor, is accused of "inciting the Israeli army to bomb the historic Baalbek Citadel by disseminating information claiming that the citadel housed Hezbollah weapons depots".

Yassine also has a YouTube channel where he shares political commentary to more than 140,000 subscribers.

Gebara is accused of "praising Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee and thanking him for the bombings of Lebanon, as well as calling for normalization with Israel" during the previous Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024, the official said.

Lebanon has no formal ties with Israel, and any contact is punishable by imprisonment.

It has previously arrested people accused of spying for Israel.

Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 to avenge the February 28 killing of Iran's supreme leader.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since then, according to Lebanese authorities.


Lebanese President, PM Say Iran Using Lebanon as Bargaining Chip in US Talks

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
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Lebanese President, PM Say Iran Using Lebanon as Bargaining Chip in US Talks

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told CNN that Iran was using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the United States.

Aoun has repeatedly sought to distance Lebanon from regional conflicts and has said decisions concerning the country's sovereignty and security must be made by the Lebanese state alone.

For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Friday also urged Iran to stop treating his country as a "bargaining chip" in its negotiations with Washington on the Middle East conflict.

"If I may address a word to Iran, it is this: have mercy on our south, stop treating it and its people as merely a bargaining chip to improve the terms of your negotiations," Salam told a press conference for a UN aid appeal for Lebanon.


Berri Backs Hezbollah Withdrawal South of Litani if Israel Pulls Back

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (National News Agency)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (National News Agency)
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Berri Backs Hezbollah Withdrawal South of Litani if Israel Pulls Back

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (National News Agency)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (National News Agency)

After controversy surrounding the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire agreement announced following US-sponsored talks in Washington on Wednesday, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday clarified his position, saying he supports Hezbollah's withdrawal from south of the Litani River in parallel with an Israeli withdrawal from the areas it occupied, while describing the remaining provisions as “unfair”.

Speaking during a meeting with Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal, Berri said: “Instead of this hybrid agreement, we could have viewed the beginning of the text positively had it provided for an unconditional ceasefire on land, at sea and in the air, without the destruction of existing structures. But it was booby-trapped by the addition of a complete cessation of fire by Hezbollah, as well as the withdrawal of all its members from south of the Litani.”

He added: “To be brief, I approve the following: The ceasefire shall be understood as complete and comprehensive, without conditions, on land, at sea and in the air, and without bulldozing or destroying existing structures.

Hezbollah's withdrawal from south of the Litani in parallel with the Israeli withdrawal from the areas it occupied. The rest of the text is unfair and not worth mentioning.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that implementation of the ceasefire could begin within 24 hours of final approval.

He said that once responses are received from all relevant domestic parties, particularly Hezbollah, Lebanon's position will be conveyed to the United States.

He stressed that “the agreement that has been reached is the last opportunity; otherwise, each side must bear its responsibilities.”