Violence leaves 2 dead at Israeli embassy in Jordan

Two Jordanians were killed in a shooting at the Israeli embassy in Amman on Sunday night, according to Jordanian and Israeli officials.

An Israeli security guard opened fire after a Jordanian worker stabbed him, a local security official said.

Jordanian police sealed off the scene and blocked access to the area.

In a statement released Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an embassy security officer shot dead a Jordanian worker replacing furniture at the embassy after the worker attacked him from behind with a screwdriver.

The Jordanian landlord of the embassy compound was injured and later succumbed to his wounds, the ministry added. The statement did not say how the landlord was wounded.

The Israeli officer was slightly injured in the incident.

Jordanian authorities confirmed the two deaths at the heavily fortified compound in the affluent Rabiyeh neighbourhood of Amman.

Israel refused to allow the Jordanian authorities to question the embassy officer as he has immunity from investigation under diplomatic rules. However, the ministry said it was working with the local officials.

The incident came during a time of high tension in the Israel-occupied West Bank over metal detectors installed at the gates to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jordan is the custodian of the mosque.

Israel has said the detectors are a necessary response to a recent attack inside Al-Aqsa that saw two Israeli police officers and three Palestinians killed.

Palestinians have accused Israel of trying to impose its control over the site -- the third holiest in Islam that is also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

Four Palestinians have been killed in clashes with security forces since Friday and three Israelis were killed in their home in a West Bank settlement on Saturday.