Imad al-Adwan was detained at an Israeli-controlled border crossing for allegedly smuggling more than 200 weapons in his car.
Israeli authorities have released Jordanian MP Imad al-Adwan, the Jordanian foreign ministry said, after he was detained nearly two weeks ago on suspicion of smuggling weapons and gold into the occupied West Bank.
“The process of handing over MP Imad Al-Adwan from the Israeli authorities to the concerned Jordanian security authorities has begun at King Hussein Bridge,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to the main border crossing connecting the Palestinian territory to Jordan.
A State Department spokesman later confirmed to Al Jazeera that the legislator has been released.
Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency said in a statement that al-Adwan was arrested on April 22 while carrying 12 rifles and 194 handguns in his car at an Israeli-controlled border crossing.
It added that the investigation found that since early 2022, al-Adwan has made 12 separate smuggling attempts using his diplomatic passport to bring in contraband, ranging from electronic cigarettes to gold and birds.
Since the beginning of the year, he has made numerous gun-smuggling trips in exchange for undetermined amounts of money, the Shin Bet said.
The agency said he had been released by Jordanian authorities for “further investigation and prosecution of justice”.
Jordan’s parliament speaker said al-Adwan’s parliamentary immunity had been revoked, meaning he could face prosecution. A Jordanian security source told Reuters news agency the case will be taken to court.
Al-Adwan’s arrest threatened to further strain ties between Israel and Jordan, already strained despite a nearly 30-year-old peace treaty.
Israel has close security ties with Jordan, with which it shares the longest border, but relations have deteriorated in recent years due to Israel’s construction of illegal settlements in occupied lands, Palestinians’ violent incursions into the West Bank, and discriminatory policies in holy sites in Jerusalem. Old City.
Jordan controlled the West Bank and East Jerusalem before Israel captured the territories in the 1967 war, but the kingdom retains custody of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other Muslim holy sites in the Old City.
Since Israel’s hard-line government took office late last year, relations with Jordan have deteriorated. Israel claims the West Bank is awash with weapons, including weapons smuggled from Jordan.