Israel embassy guard kills two Jordanians, including doctor

An Israeli embassy guard shot dead a teenage Jordanian who allegedly attacked him with a screwdriver at the Israeli embassy in Amman, while a second Jordanian doctor was killed accidentally.

The incident late on Sunday came as tensions are high over new Israeli security measures at the highly sensitive holy site of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Israel's foreign ministry said on Monday that the attacker had come to a residential building used by embassy staff to install furniture and stabbed the security guard in the back with the screwdriver.

Jordanian state media reported that two Jordanians were killed in the incident, including the landlord, a local doctor who happened to be at the scene of the incident, and that the security guard was lightly wounded.

The security source in Amman had confirmed earlier that two Jordanians were killed in a shooting in the area of the embassy.

"The first Jordanian, 17-year-old Mohammed Jawawdeh, succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The second, Bashar Hamarneh, a doctor who was in the residential quarter of the embassy at the time of the incident... died of his injuries after midnight in hospital," the security source told AFP.

The injured Israeli is "deputy director of security at the Israeli embassy and is still receiving treatment in hospital", the source added.

Israeli media has said Jordan has demanded to conduct an investigation and has prevented Israeli embassy staff from leaving the premises.

Israel's foreign ministry failed to refer to such demands in its statement, but said the guard has diplomatic immunity, according to international conventions.

Israel and Jordan are bound by a 1994 peace treaty, but tensions have been high in recent days after Israel put in place security measures at the al-Aqsa mosque in annexed east Jerusalem.

Israel and Jordan are bound by a 1994 peace treaty, but tensions have been high in recent days after Israel put in place security measures at the al-Aqsa mosque in annexed east Jerusalem.

Israel installed metal detectors at entrances to the site following an attack nearby that killed two policemen.

Palestinians view the move as Israel asserting further control over the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount.

On Friday, thousands of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman after the weekly prayer to denounce the Israeli measures at the holy compound, which includes the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Israel shut off the mosque compound on July 14 after Palestinian Israelis attacked and killed two police officers nearby.

Muslim religious leaders have said that Israel is trying to expand its control at the site under the guise of security, a claim Israel denies.