Jordan court sentences three to death for St George's Church attack that killed 9

Jordan's State Security Court sentenced three men to death by hanging Sunday for an October gun attack on a church funeral in Karak governorate that killed nine people.

The gunmen struck St George's Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hammoud during the Oct. 23 funeral. Security camera footage showed three armed men approach the church and shoot at it that day. A witness said most victims were aged between 50 and 70.

The court found the men guilty of terrorist acts that killed nine people, plotting terrorist acts and promoting a terrorist organisation's ideas. The Jordanian Armed Forces said the court sentenced "the three criminals who carried out the terrorist attack" to death.

Two of the defendants are Jordanian brothers, and the third is related to them by marriage. Their names have not been made public. They appeared by video link from detention for the closed hearing, according to the Daily Mail.

Amer Halaseh, a lawyer for the victims' families, said the ruling "reflects the scale of the disaster and the terrorist crime that took place." Halaseh said two other men received six-year prison sentences for selling weapons to the attackers.

The court found all three defendants guilty of weapons offences, including possession of weapons and ammunition with terrorist intent. One was also convicted of providing money to finance terrorist acts under Jordan's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Law No. 20 of 2021.

It is unclear why the attackers chose that church.

Authorities put the number wounded in the Oct. 23 attack at 34, according to NBC News and the BBC, while The Times of Israel and Al Jazeera reported 25 wounded.

The Public Security Directorate announced on Oct. 26 that security forces had arrested the three suspects inside an abandoned house in Karak governorate after they refused to surrender and engaged the forces. The shootout left each suspect wounded; no security personnel were hurt.

King Abdullah II wrote on X shortly after the attack in October that "the terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation." He ordered Jordan to reassess its security procedures for dealing with attacks, according to Al Jazeera.

Jordan's military struck southern Syria from the air in retaliation for the church attack, targeting what it called "terrorist organisations." Jordan said it coordinated the strikes with the Syrian government, but Syria said it received no advance notice.

Syrian health officials told Syrian state media that five people, including women, children and an elderly man, died in a Jordanian strike on a village in Daraa province. Syrian authorities said seven people died in the airstrikes, according to NBC News. Jordan later acknowledged that the strikes killed civilians, and the countries agreed to form a joint security committee to review the incident, according to NBC News.

Jordan's Council of Church leaders announced Sunday the "cancellation of all Christmas celebrations" as the Christian community mourns, according to the Daily Mail. The leaders urged churches to make their Christmas trees a symbol of hope, unity and peace and to "light candles in memory of the souls of the martyrs."

Christians account for around 3% of the population of Muslim-majority Jordan. Karak governorate, south of the capital Amman, has a sizeable Christian community.

Jordan uses hanging for executions, which resumed in June this year after being paused since 2017.

Jordanian law provides for an automatic appeal of the death sentences before the Court of Cassation. It was not immediately known when the court would consider the case or when any execution could take place.