Politics and Society Institute Report: Hammoud Church Attack Generates Over 10 Million Digital Engagements Amid National, Arab, and International Solidarity and Cross-Border Israeli Exploitation

• More than 10 million digital engagements were recorded over four days, with discussions of the attack spanning more than ten languages.
• The rate of posts related to Karak surged from approximately 300 to 10,000 posts per hour at the peak of public attention.
• Approximately 38% of geolocated Spanish-language content originated from accounts identifying their location as Israel.
• National unity and Muslim-Christian solidarity dominated Jordanian media coverage.
• The King’s visit to the wounded, the personal stories of the victims, and scenes from the funeral ceremonies highlighted the national and human dimensions of the tragedy.
• Extremist accounts outside Jordan reframed news headlines by replacing the word “gunmen” with “Muslims,” seeking to attribute collective religious responsibility for the attack.
• English-language posts accounted for 71% of all posts linking the attack to ISIS across the languages monitored.
• The report underscores the importance of rapidly disseminating verified information and strengthening the Jordanian narrative across multiple languages.

A report published by the Politics and Society Institute has revealed that the attack on St. George Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hammoud, in Jordan’s Karak Governorate, generated millions of digital engagements during its first four days. Discussions of the attack extended across more than ten languages, revealing significant differences between Arab media coverage, which emphasized national unity and solidarity with Jordan, and international online narratives that framed the incident through religious and political lenses, including instances of extremist anti-Muslim rhetoric.

The report identified a substantial disparity between the circulation of initial accounts of the attack and the dissemination of subsequent official statements, particularly in English-language content. English accounted for approximately 71% of all posts linking the attack to the Islamic State (ISIS) across the languages monitored, while coverage of the Interior Minister’s statement concerning the perpetrators’ identities remained limited in both English and Spanish.

Titled “From Hammoud to the World: Global Media Monitoring and Digital Engagement with the Attack on St. George Church in Karak,” the report was prepared by Rand Azm, Assistant Researcher at the Institute’s Digital Listening Unit. It covered the period from October 23 to 26, 2026, encompassing the day of the attack and the following three days, through the announcement of the completion of operations to apprehend the perpetrators. The study examined media coverage, official responses, and digital discussions surrounding the attack, which took place during a funeral service and resulted in the deaths of nine people and injuries to dozens more.

The monitoring process recorded hundreds of thousands of digital items, including social media posts, comments, and news articles discussing the incident. Total engagement reached millions of interactions, including likes, comments, and shares, reflecting the extraordinary scale of public attention generated within a relatively short period.

The report found that news organizations and media websites were among the primary sources of circulating content. Jordanian media outlets produced most of the highest-engagement Arabic-language material and played a significant role in highlighting the attack’s national and human dimensions through coverage of the victims’ personal stories, their families’ responses, and expressions of solidarity.

According to the temporal analysis, the volume of posts related to Karak rose from approximately 300 per hour before the attack to nearly 9,000 within three to four hours. The figure subsequently reached approximately 10,000 posts per hour during the evening peak, coinciding with breaking news updates, circulating videos, official statements, and King Abdullah II’s visit to the wounded in Karak.

Digital activity unfolded in successive waves corresponding to the initial attack, the rising death toll and the convening of the National Security Council, the joint military funeral, and the eventual announcement that the perpetrators had been apprehended. The initial phase of the attack generated the highest peak in activity compared with subsequent waves, which the report interpreted as an indication of the decisive importance of the first few hours in shaping public perceptions of the incident and the magnitude of the initial “shock.”

In its examination of Jordanian media coverage, the report identified three principal themes: the presence and response of the Hashemite leadership; the identification of the victims through their names, professions, and personal stories; and coverage of the security forces’ operations and the apprehension of the perpetrators. Messages emphasizing national unity, rejecting religious division, and reaffirming the bonds between Muslims and Christians appeared repeatedly throughout this coverage.

Particular attention was given to King Abdullah II’s visit to the wounded at Karak Governmental Hospital, where he appeared in military uniform, alongside the expressions of condolence and support extended by Queen Rania and the princesses to the families of the victims. The report also highlighted the personal stories of Dr. Mohammad Al-Qsous, widely known as the “Doctor of the Poor,” young physician Dr. Fadi Al-Halsa, and university professor Asim Barqan. These narratives presented the victims as individuals with meaningful roles, relationships, and contributions within their communities.

The report documented the circulation of images and videos showing people reciting Al-Fatiha, lighting candles outside churches, and participating in funeral ceremonies. It also highlighted a widely shared video of a victim’s sister affirming that the perpetrators did not represent Islam and that Muslims remained family and brothers. According to the report, such material contributed to portraying mourning as a shared national experience.

Across the wider Arab media landscape, condemnation of the attack and solidarity with Jordan predominated, with particular attention to the King’s visit to the wounded, the declaration of national mourning, and the lowering of flags to half-mast. Initial international coverage, meanwhile, relied heavily on news agencies and Jordanian television, presenting the incident as breaking news involving unidentified gunmen opening fire at a church.

The report observed that some news headlines subsequently became subjects of controversy on social media. Right-wing accounts in the United States and Europe objected to the use of the terms “gunmen” and “unidentified attackers” in reporting by ABC and the German newspaper WELT. These accounts reformulated the headlines using the word “Muslims,” shifting the discussion from the description of a criminal act toward the attribution of collective responsibility based on religious identity.

The monitoring also identified coverage by the American Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which placed its reporting under its Israel news section, as well as an Argentine website that employed the expression “Islamic terrorism.” By contrast, church-affiliated media and platforms associated with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem played a role in communicating statements of solidarity and reporting on the victims, emphasizing the religious connection to the targeted church.

Differences in framing were also evident in official statements. According to the report, Arabic-language statements generally emphasized solidarity with Jordan and the protection of its security and stability, while European statements, particularly those issued by France and Greece, explicitly expressed solidarity with Christians in Jordan.

Arabic accounted for the largest volume of monitored content, with approximately 155,000 items, followed by English with around 59,800 and Spanish with approximately 18,800. Greek, German, Turkish, Russian, and several other languages were represented to a lesser extent. Arabic also recorded the highest average posting frequency among the languages examined, at approximately three posts per account, followed by Greek at around two posts per account.

Arabic-language content prominently featured terms such as “Jordan,” “homeland,” “King,” “martyrs,” and “treachery,” while references linking the attack to ISIS remained relatively limited. English-language content, meanwhile, combined conventional news reporting with a pronounced emphasis on religious identity, frequently using terms associated with Christians, Muslims, and the Orthodox Church.

According to the report, approximately 4,400 English-language posts linked the attack to ISIS, compared with just 53 posts that shared the Interior Minister’s statement on the morning of October 26 regarding the perpetrators’ identities and the absence of indications of links to external entities. The corresponding figures for posts sharing the minister’s statement were 126 in Arabic and only two in Spanish, demonstrating the considerable disparity in the circulation of official information across the monitored language samples.

The report emphasized that claims of ISIS responsibility for the attack had circulated during the initial hours without a verified source. Its analysis traced the dissemination of successive narratives and official statements rather than attempting to establish the factual validity of competing claims concerning responsibility for the attack.

Within Spanish-language content, the report identified a prominent presence of radical narratives employing terms such as “Islamist violence” and situating the attack within a broader discourse portraying Muslims as a threat to followers of other religions. Approximately 38% of Spanish-language content with identifiable account locations originated from accounts listing Israel as their location, alongside contributions from accounts based in Latin American countries.

Greek-language content was distinguished by its explicit identification of the church and its association of the victims with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, highlighting the incident’s significance within the Eastern Christian tradition. Turkish-language posts included unsubstantiated allegations implicating Israel and Mossad, alongside messages rejecting any association between the crime and Islam. Parts of the German-language discussion, meanwhile, connected the attack to broader debates concerning the persecution of Christians and antisemitism.

The report also examined the sequence of official information released on October 26. This began with the Interior Minister’s morning statement indicating the absence of evidence suggesting external involvement, followed by an evening announcement from the Jordanian Armed Forces linking the perpetrators to terrorist organizations operating in southern Syria, coinciding with airstrikes in Daraa. The report found that these developments redirected part of the public discussion toward the nature of Jordan’s response.

The report concluded by emphasizing the need to strengthen the presence of Jordan’s narrative across multiple languages and to provide verified information rapidly and clearly during the critical opening hours of a major incident. It also stressed the importance of foregrounding the victims’ personal stories and their local social context to counter narratives that generalize responsibility along religious lines or detach the incident from the society in which it occurred.

Methodologically, the report was based on a purposive sample of content accessible through the monitoring tools employed. Its findings therefore should not be interpreted as a comprehensive measure of public opinion or an exhaustive account of all online discussions, particularly given the tools’ inability to access messaging applications and closed groups.

The Politics and Society Institute regularly publishes reports on digital listening and analysis, examining media coverage and discussions across social media platforms and news websites. These reports seek to identify patterns of public engagement with major issues and events and to analyze the narratives and interpretive frames through which audiences understand them.

To read the full report, press here