2 killed, another wounded in shooting at Israeli embassy in Jordan

Two men were killed and another was woundedby gunfire Sunday in a residential building in the heavily fortified Israeli embassy compound in Jordan's capital, the kingdom's Public Security Directorate said.

Before the shooting, Jordanians had entered the apartment building for carpentry work, the statement said.

Earlier Sunday,HalaAkhbara new site linked to the Jordanian militaryreported that one of the two Jordanians wounded by gunfire had died in hospital. But a security source has said thesecond Jordanian has subsequently also succumbed to gunshot wounds.

AnIsraeli who was also wounded was in "unstable" condition.

A Jordanian security official confirmed that a Jordanian had been killed and an Israeli wounded. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident with the media.

Israel's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.

In their statement, the Jordanian police said that after the attack they had sealed the heavily protected embassy in an affluent part of the capital and deployed dozens of anti-terrorismforces.

Tensions over Jerusalem

The incident comes at a time of mounting tensions between Israel and the Muslim world over metal detectors Israel installed at a Jerusalem shrine revered by Muslims and Jews.

Jordan's KingAbdullah'sHashemitemonarchy has been the Muslim custodian of the sites since 1924, paying for their upkeep and deriving part of its legitimacy from the role.

On Friday, thousands of Jordanians staged an anti-Israeli protest in Amman.

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Many of Jordan's seven million citizens are of Palestinian origin. They or their parents or grandparents were expelled or fled to Jordan in the fighting that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948.

Israel has in the past given repeated assurances that it understands Jordan's concerns and does not seek to alter the status quo in the Muslim holy sites of Jerusalem.