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Israel’s military said it killed two gunmen who crossed from Jordan into Israeli territory south of the Dead Sea on Friday morning.
The men were killed after they shot at Israeli soldiers. Another operative “likely fled the scene” and the military said it had mounted a ground and air search operation.
Two Israeli soldiers, one of whom was a reservist, were lightly wounded in an exchange of fire with the attackers, the army said.
The gunmen were trying to enter the village of Neot HaKikar but were stopped by troops and members of the community’s security team, police said.
A photo purportedly taken at the scene shows a body clothed in what looks like a military uniform and desert military boots, while an Israeli soldier looks on. Authorities in neither Jordan nor Israel have released details about the gunmen’s identities. A Jordanian official, quoted by the state news agency Petra, dismissed claims in Israeli media that the men were members of Jordan's military.
“There is no truth to the claims spread by some Hebrew media that two Jordanian soldiers crossed the western border of Jordan,” the official was quoted as saying.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan later told AFP that the two attackers who were killed were members of the group who “always participated in events in solidarity with Gaza and in support of the resistance”.
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Moath Al Khawaldeh identified them as Hussam Abu Ghazaleh and Amer Qawoos.
The men appear to have each released a video message on social media before the attack in which they speak about the war in Gaza. The man who gave his name as Hussam Abu Ghazaleh said he had always wanted to join Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. The man in the other video gave his name as Amer Abu Obeid.
Israel’s largest border by far is shared with Jordan and the countries have close security ties, but tensions have been high over the Gaza war, with Jordanian officials repeatedly criticising Israel's actions.
In September, a Jordanian lorry driver killed three Israelis at the Allenby Bridge crossing that links Jordan with the occupied West Bank. The attacker was killed at the scene.
More than half of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian origin and one in five are registered as Palestinian refugees.
