A man in civilian clothes acting suspiciously near the Israeli-Jordanian border fence was shot to death by soldiers on both sides late Tuesday, the Israel Defense Force disclosed.
The incident occurred close to the Yarmuk River, a major tributary of the Jordan, in the vicinity of the Hamat Gader hot springs, near Kibbutz Mevo Hamma on the Golan Heights.
The man, who was unarmed, was spotted by IDF and Jordanian soldiers lingering in the area between the security fence and the river. He failed to respond when challenged by an Israeli patrol.
The IDF opened fire. So did Jordanian soldiers. The man was struck down by bullets from both sides.
A search of his body yielded no identification documents but he is presumed to have been a Jordanian army deserter.
Mevo Hamma was put on alert for four hours after the incident.
Women and children on the kibbutz took shelter while the men mounted guard. The IDF fired flares into the air as soldiers searched for possible intruders.
The Yarmuk River forms the boundary between Jordan and Syria before it flows into the Jordan River.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
