Jordan arrests Israeli who swam into its territorial waters, army says

Jordan's military said Sunday that its naval forces detained an Israeli who swam from Israel into the country's territorial waters.

Naval forces spotted a person attempting to swim from the Israeli side into Jordanian territorial waters, a military source told Jordan's official Petra news agency. The source said soldiers immediately went to the site, detained the swimmer and handed him over to the relevant authorities.

The source gave no details on the detainee's name, age, civilian or military status, or motive. The military did not specify where he was detained.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli authorities on the report.

In August, an Israeli swam from Eilat to the neighboring Jordanian port city of Aqaba, according to the daily Israel Hayom. Jordanian authorities returned him to Israel after nearly two weeks in detention.

Last year, Jordan's military announced that it had detained a person attempting to enter the kingdom's territorial waters by swimming. It did not disclose the person's nationality.

Jordan and Israel signed the Wadi Araba peace treaty on Oct. 26, 1994, agreeing to respect their international boundary and each other's territorial waters.