Jerusalem, May 7 Israel has handed over to Jordan the deputy Imad al-Adwan, arrested on April 22 at the Allenby crossing when he tried to enter the occupied West Bank with 194 pistols and 12 assault rifles, the Israeli Security Agency or Shin Bet reported today.
The Jordanian parliamentarian was handed over to the authorities of his country for “further investigation and prosecution,” the Shin Bet said in a statement today, whose investigation suggests that Adwan introduced more than 200 weapons into the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, on twelve occasions since February 2022 using his diplomatic passport in exchange for “large sums of money”.
In addition to weapons, Adwan also smuggled other illegal goods, including gold, e-cigarettes, and even birds.
According to the Shin Bet, the Jordanian authorities have also detained several suspects who were involved in this smuggling with the deputy.
Al-Adwan was handed over to Jordanian authorities on Sunday despite the fact that Israel and Jordan do not have an extradition agreement, while both countries have endeavored to treat the case as just another criminal act and not escalate into a diplomatic crisis.
“I do not believe that the episode is related to Jordan in general, but to an irresponsible criminal act. I do not want to blame the government as a whole or the entire Parliament,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said after Adwan’s arrest.
A wave of Palestinian violence and attacks has rocked the occupied West Bank and Israel in recent months, aided by a spate of illegal weapons, many smuggled from Jordan, security sources in Israel have repeatedly denounced. EFE
sga/alf
