Jordan held a military drill simulating an attack on the Hashemite Kingdom's western border with Israel amid rising tensions with the Jewish state, Arab media reported on Monday.
According to the reports, the drill was conducted last Tuesday and Wednesday by Jordanian armed forces' elite Royal Guard 1st Mechanized Battalion of the Jordanian Central Command.
Jordanian King Abdullah II oversaw the maneuver, codenamed "Swords of Karama", and watched from up close alongside Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, army and government senior officials and military attachés from several unidentified countries.
The report stated that the maneuvers simulated a defensive battle, with the participation of various corps, fighter planes, and helicopters, “with the aim of destroying the vanguard of the enemy and the bridges that can be used as crossing points” into Jordanian territory.
The maneuver comes two weeks after Israel returned the two enclaves of Tzofar and Naharayim under Jordanian sovereignty.
The king and his son have since visited the enclaves and prayed there. King Abdullah then said that the relationship with Israel has sunk to "its worst state ever".
Given the criminal charges filed against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and continuing deadlock immobilizing the country's political system, the king added that "we hope that Israel will be able to determine its future, either in the coming weeks or in the coming months and focus attention on negotiations with the Palestinians."
Meanwhile, Jordanian media reported Monday that a fire has killed 13 people
in a farming community along the border with Israel and Syria.
The Jordanian civil defense said in a statement that the fire broke out early Monday in a shack where two Pakistani families live in the village of al-Shuna al-Janobia.
Three others were injured. Reports say that eight children, four women and a man - all said to be Pakistani nationals – are among the dead.
The civil defense says an electrical fault caused the fire and an investigation has been launched.
First published: 18:31, 12.02.19