Jordan is reluctant to host an expanded US program to train and equip Syrian rebels. On July 9, Jordanian soldiers fired at and wounded three Islamic State gunmen who were trying to cross into Jordan from Syria for medical treatment; jihadist sources say about 2,200 Jordanians are fighting in the ranks of Islamist rebels in Syria, mostly with the Islamic State. Officials said Arabs from Syria, Egypt, and Iraq make up about 2.4 million, or nearly a third, of Jordan’s 9 million population. Jordan continues to denounce Israel’s Gaza offensive.
