Jordan Christians and Muslims Light Candles Together After Karak Church Funerals as Suspects Named

On Friday, 23 October 2026, gunmen attacked a Greek Orthodox church in Hamoud, in Karak governorate, during a funeral service, killing nine people and wounding at least 34. What followed in the days after — funerals, a candlelit vigil, arrests, and air strikes across the border in Syria — is the subject of this follow-up article.

Thousands Attend Karak Church Funerals on October 25

Thousands attended the funerals on Saturday, 25 October 2026, for the nine people killed, according to an account published by Apollo, drawing on Middle East Forum reporting. Crown Prince Hussein and Prime Minister Jafar Hassan represented King Abdullah II, to convey the leadership’s solidarity, the account says.

Other members of the royal family were also in Karak for the funeral of the victims, Middle East Eye reports, via Hatha Alyoum. King Abdullah II had visited the wounded in hospital on Friday, in his military uniform, the same report says.

“The terrorist attack against Karak will be met with the harshest retaliation,” King Abdullah II said on Friday, as quoted by Middle East Eye. “Those who delude themselves into thinking that they can divide Jordanians with their bullets have no chance in the face of our unity.”

Witnesses said between 150 and 200 people were inside and around St George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Hamoud for the funeral service at the time of the attack, Middle East Eye reports.

Christians and Muslims Light Candles Together in Amman Vigil

On Sunday, crowds gathered in Paris Square, in Amman’s al-Weibdeh district, for a vigil held for the victims, Middle East Eye reports. It was one of many vigils held across Jordan over the weekend.

Muslims and Christians lit candles in solidarity with the Christian community, the report says. They recited a short chapter of the Quran for the victims, before joining in a rendition of the Arabic anthem Mawtini, meaning My Homeland, many with tears in their eyes.

Rami Kawar, a 47-year-old Christian Jordanian from Madaba, told Middle East Eye the attack was a shock he had never experienced before, bringing mixed feelings of sadness and fury.

Zohrab Markarian, a 73-year-old Armenian Jordanian, was among the crowd, the report says.

“We were never made to feel different in Jordan,” he said. “The Muslims, they are more in pain than the Christians. They are hurt too.”

Across Jordan, flags flew at half-mast, and security was visibly stepped up in Amman, Middle East Eye reports. The minister of local administration, Walid Masri, announced on Sunday that heads of municipal committees had been ordered to name a street in each municipality after one of the nine victims.

Three Suspects Named After Two-Hour Exchange of Fire

In the early hours of Monday, security forces arrested three suspects, members of the same family, Middle East Eye reports. The three men were named by Jordan’s Director of Public Security, Obeidallah al-Maaytah, at a press conferance.

“The perpetrators of the attack on the church were two brothers and the third was their relative by marriage,” al-Maaytah told the press conference, as quoted by Middle East Eye. The three suspects were Hazza Zaidan Mohammed, Meshal Zaidan Mohammed and Ahmad Sami Hussein.

They were arrested after an exchange of fire lasting around two hours with Jordanian security forces in the village of al-Judayyda, in Karak governorate, Middle East Eye reports. A large cache of firearms and ammunition was also found in their possession, the report says.

Reuters, via Devdiscourse, adds detail from Jordan’s Public Security Directorate. Security forces located the suspects hiding in an abandoned house, the directorate said. They refused to surrender, attacked security forces, and were arrested after being wounded, with no security personnel injured.

“God willing, they only represent themselves,” al-Maaytah said, referring to the three suspects, as quoted by both Middle East Eye and Reuters. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, Middle East Eye and Reuters both report.

Jordan Air Strikes in Syria and Disputed Accounts

Late on Monday, 26 October, Jordan carried out strikes on what it said were militant hideouts in southern Syria, Middle East Eye reports, after concluding that the suspects were linked to “terrorist groups” based in the country. The raids hit Daraa and Sweida, according to Syrian authorities quoted in the same report.

Jordan’s account of the link is attributed here to Jordanian authorities, and it is disputed in part by the reporting itself. Reuters reports that Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya said investigations were still ongoing, with no indications as yet of links between the suspects and other cells, and that officials did not name any Islamist groups at the press conference.

An opinion article published by Apollo, by contrast, said Amman had identified the Islamic State as responsible. That claim is attributed here to the Apollo article, and it is not confirmed by the Reuters account of the press conference.

Whether the strikes were coordinated with Damascus is also disputed. The Jordanian military said the operation had been coordinated with Damascus, Middle East Eye reports, while Syria said it had received no prior notice and had opened an investigation. The casualty figures also differ: Syrian authorities quoted by Middle East Eye put the toll at at least seven, including three children and a woman, while a health official quoted by Reuters put it at five civilians, including women and children.

Following the strikes, Syria closed its main border crossing with Jordan, Middle East Eye reports.

Condemnation From Greece, United States, European Union and Church Leaders

Greece, the United States, Israel, Cyprus, Arab governments, the European Union, the United Nations, and church leaders condemned the crime, Apollo reports.

Readers following the Karak attack can read the earlier report in nine killed in the attack on a church funeral in Karak, and related coverage in sixty Orthodox Christians killed in Ethiopia, the Church says and a pastor's wife and daughter held in Nigeria after a kidnapping ransom threat.

For the families in Hamoud, the funerals are over and the vigil candles have burned down. What has not ended is the investigation, and the argument over what happened across the border in Syria.

“The file has not yet been closed,” Interior Minister al-Faraya said, as quoted by Reuters. Until it is, the people of Karak will be waiting to learn whether the unity of that Sunday holds, and what justice, in the end, will look like.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.