Jordan court sentences three men to death over Karak church attack

A court in Jordan on Sunday handed death sentences to three men convicted of the gun attack on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the south of the kingdom last month, The Times of Israel reported. The sentence is death by hanging. Nine people were killed in the shooting, which took place on October 23 in the village of Hammoud, in the Karak governorate.

The Jerusalem Post also reported the verdict, describing the case as a terror shooting in Karak and confirming the toll of nine dead. The ruling was announced by the Jordanian military, which said in a statement that the State Security Court had sentenced the three men it described as the perpetrators of the attack.

The attack in Hammoud

According to The Times of Israel, gunmen burst into a funeral service being held at the church and opened fire on the mourners. Authorities said the three men fled the scene and were taken into custody three days afterwards. The suspects were identified by the authorities as two Jordanian brothers and a man related to them by marriage. The reports do not give their names.

A photograph published with The Times of Israel report shows relatives at a funeral in Karak on October 25, 2026, holding a framed portrait of one of those killed.

A disagreement over the number of wounded

The two reports agree that nine people died but give different figures for the injured. The Times of Israel put the number of wounded at 25. The Jerusalem Post, in a caption accompanying its report, said 40 others were injured. Neither report explains the difference, and it is not clear whether one figure was later revised or whether the two counts were compiled differently.

The charges

As quoted by The Times of Israel, the military statement said the court convicted the men of "committing terrorist attacks" that caused deaths. They were also found guilty of weapons offences, of "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts" and of "promoting the ideas of a terrorist organization." The statement did not name the organisation in question in the material available to us.

What the State Security Court is

Jordan's State Security Court is a special tribunal that hears cases the kingdom classes as threats to national security, including terrorism. That the verdict was announced through a military statement reflects the court's place within the security establishment rather than the ordinary civilian courts. The Jerusalem Post reported that Jordanian security forces stood guard outside the court building in Amman, the capital, as the verdict was awaited.

Where Karak is

Karak is one of Jordan's governorates, or provinces, and lies in the south of the country, east of the Dead Sea. Jordan borders Israel and the West Bank, and its internal security is followed closely in Israel. The kingdom has a Christian minority, and churches such as the Greek Orthodox community in Hammoud are part of long-established local life in the area. An armed assault on a funeral inside a church is the kind of attack Jordanian authorities treat as terrorism, and the charges brought in this case reflect that classification.

Why it matters to readers abroad

Jordan is one of two Arab states with a peace treaty with Israel and is regarded as a central partner on regional security. A deadly attack on a Christian congregation, followed within weeks by arrests and capital sentences, shows how quickly the kingdom's security courts can move in cases framed as terrorism. The speed of the process, from the attack in late October to a verdict in mid-November, is itself notable.

What the reports do not say

• Neither report names the three convicted men or the terrorist organisation whose ideas they were found guilty of promoting.
• No motive for the attack is given, and there is no account of why the funeral in Hammoud was targeted.
• The reports do not say whether the men can appeal or whether, and when, the sentences would be carried out.
• The difference between the injury figures, 25 according to one report and 40 according to the other, is not explained.
• No response from the church, the victims' families or the defence has been reported.