Amman: ‘Stabbing Attack’ on Tourists in Jerash

Tourists were airlifted to King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman following the incident. (Reuters: Muhammad Hamed)
Tourists were airlifted to King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman following the incident. (Reuters: Muhammad Hamed)
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Amman: ‘Stabbing Attack’ on Tourists in Jerash

Tourists were airlifted to King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman following the incident. (Reuters: Muhammad Hamed)
Tourists were airlifted to King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman following the incident. (Reuters: Muhammad Hamed)

The Jordanian authorities arrested Wednesday a man after stabbing four Jordanians, including a security officer, a tour guide and a bus driver, in addition to three Mexican tourists and a Swiss woman in Jerash, north of the country.

Jordanian tour guide Zouheir Zreiqat witnessed the attack and told AFP that it happened "just before midday when around 100 foreign tourists" were at the site.

"A bearded man in his twenties wearing black and brandishing a knife started to stab tourists," Zreiqat said.

He said others started to shout for help and he, along with three other tour guides and three tourists managed to stop the assailant.

"We took the knife from him. He stayed silent, without saying a word until the police arrived and arrested him," Zreiqat said.

Health Minister Saad Jaber confirmed that eight people had been wounded and had been transported to the hospital for treatment. The minister said that four of the victims "suffered moderate to severe wounds, while the other four had minor injuries."

"A Mexican tourist in serious condition and a Jordanian tour guide" were transferred via helicopter to the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman, he added.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi telephoned his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis and deputy Mexican foreign secretary Julian Ventura to assure them Jordan was caring for their country's citizens and that they would be kept abreast of the results of investigations.

Moreover, an official from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the stabbing, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

It was not the first time a Jordanian tourist attraction has witnessed an attack.

In December 2016, in Karak, 10 people were killed in an attack claimed by ISIS that also left 34 wounded.

Four violent incidents struck the country the same year, including a suicide attack in June claimed by ISIS that killed seven Jordanian border guards near the frontier with Syria.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.