Jordan sentences three to death over Karak church funeral attack

A court in Jordan has sentenced three people to death for an armed attack on a church during a funeral last month, The Times of Israel reported, citing a statement from the Jordanian military. According to that statement, the ruling came from the State Security Court, and the sentence is to be carried out by hanging. The military said the attack left nine people dead and 25 wounded.

The verdict was also flagged by two Hebrew-language Israeli news services. Ynet's news alerts channel described the three as the terrorists who carried out the attack on the church funeral, while N12, the news site of one of Israel's main commercial television channels, attributed its item to a report from Jordan and referred to them only as three people sentenced over an attack on a church the previous month.

What the military statement said

The only official wording quoted in the reports comes from the Jordanian military. In it, the military said the State Security Court "issued its ruling" against the three, whom it called criminals, and it described the shooting as a terrorist attack. The Times of Israel described the three defendants as men and said the gunfire was directed at a church in the south of the kingdom.

None of the reports names the defendants, describes the charges in detail or says how long the trial lasted. The Times of Israel item and the two Hebrew alerts were all published within minutes of one another on the morning of the ruling, and none of them reproduces the full text of the judgment.

The attack in Karak

A photograph caption carried by The Times of Israel places the attack at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, a town in southern Jordan, and shows relatives holding a framed portrait of one of those killed. The caption is dated October 25, 2026, and says the attack took place during a funeral ceremony. The reports do not give further detail on whose funeral was being held or how the gunmen were stopped.

Karak lies on the high ground east of the Dead Sea and is home to one of Jordan's Christian communities. Christians make up a minority of Jordan's population, and Greek Orthodox congregations are among the oldest Christian communities in the region.

Jordan's State Security Court

The State Security Court is a special tribunal in Jordan that hears cases the state classifies as threats to national security, including terrorism. Its panels have historically included military judges, which helps explain why the ruling was announced through a military statement rather than by the regular civilian judiciary.

Why Israeli outlets covered it

Jordan shares a long border with Israel and the West Bank and is one of the Arab states with which Israel has a peace treaty. Security developments in the kingdom are followed closely by Israeli media, and both Ynet and N12 pushed the verdict to their alert channels. Neither Hebrew alert added detail beyond the bare fact of the sentence, and the fuller account, including the casualty figures and the hanging, comes from The Times of Israel's report of the military statement.

Differences between the reports

The three reports agree that three people were sentenced to death over an attack on a church last month. They differ in how they describe the defendants: Ynet calls them terrorists, The Times of Israel calls them men and quotes the military calling them criminals, and N12 uses the neutral phrase three people. Only The Times of Israel specifies the court, the method of execution and the toll of nine killed and 25 injured.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not identify the three convicted men, state any motive or affiliation, or say whether others were charged in connection with the attack. They also do not say whether the sentences can still be appealed, when they might be carried out, or how the families of the victims and Karak's church leaders responded to the verdict.