Infant killed, 8 hurt in suspected terror attack in Jerusalem
A 3-month-old girl was killed and eight people were injured when a car crashed into a light rail station in Jerusalem.
The suspected terror attack, captured on security camera video, occurred Wednesday afternoon at the Ammunition Hill station in northern Jerusalem as passengers were disembarking from the train. Several of the injured passengers reportedly are American citizens.
The driver of the car attempted to flee the scene on foot and was shot by police. Israeli media have published unconfirmed reports naming the driver as a former Palestinian prisoner from the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, which has been a recent source of Arab-Jewish tension.
The infant girl, identified as Haya Zissel, died at the Hadassah hospital on Mount Scopus of her wounds. The driver reportedly was hospitalized with serious wounds.
The infant’s grandfather, Shimshon Halperin of Israel, told reporters later that the baby was born after her parents had tried for years to conceive with no success. The family was returning from the Western Wall when they attack occurred, he said.
The light rail has come under attack in recent weeks by stone-throwing Palestinians in eastern Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the attack.
The Prime Minister’s Office spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, on his official Twitter feed identified the driver of the car that crashed Wednesday into the Ammunition Hill station in northern Jerusalem as a Hamas member. Eight people also were injured in the suspected terror act as passengers were disembarking from the train.
Netanyahu in a statement referred to the fact that Abbas’ Fatah party recently formed a unity government with Hamas.
“This is how Abu Mazen’s partners in government act, the same Abu Mazen who — only a few days ago — incited toward a terrorist attack in Jerusalem,” the prime minister said, using Abbas’ nom de guerre.
The driver of the car attempted to flee the scene on foot and was shot by police, who confirmed that he was from the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan and had previously served time in an Israeli prison.
After the attack, which was captured on security camera video, Palestinians and Israeli forces clashed in Silwan, which has been a recent source of Arab-Jewish tension. Israeli security forces also reportedly raided the home of the suspect in the attack, Abdelrahman al-Shaludi, who is the nephew of Mohiyedine Sharif, the former head of Hamas’ armed wing who was killed in 1988.
Netanyahu ordered tightened security in Jerusalem. The city’s mayor, Nir Barkat, called for the reinforcement of police forces in order to “restore peace and security.”
“As I have said for months, the situation in Jerusalem is intolerable and we must act unequivocally against all violence taking place in the city,” he said in a statement. “Today, more than ever, it is clear that we must send police forces into neighborhoods where there are disturbances, placing them strategically and widely in significant numbers.”
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned the attack. “The atrocious murder of an innocent baby girl, a victim of indiscriminate terrorism, should disgust all those who have a heart,” he said in a statement.
“The increasing incitement on the Arab streets and the streets of Jerusalem, which unfortunately receives the backing of leaders in the Arab world, has the ability to destroy the delicate balance of life in Jerusalem, and carry us all into a maelstrom of destruction and pain.”
JTA
The car that crashed into a Jerusalem train station, killing an infant and injuring eight, in what is being probed as a terrorist attack. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
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