BICOM

A three-month-old baby was killed yesterday when a car driven by a local Palestinian man rammed into a group of waiting passengers at a Jerusalem light railway station; seven other people were injured.

The attack happened shortly after 6pm at the busy Ammunition Hill junction, which is situated near several Arab neighbourhoods. The car reportedly veered quickly from the main road and accelerated into a crowd of passengers, killing three-month-old Haya Zissel Baron.

The assailant attempted to escape on foot but was shot and later died of his wounds. He was identified as 20-year-old Abed a-Rahman a-Shaludi, who had previously served a 16-month prison sentence for throwing Molotov cocktails at cars of Jewish residents in the Silwan neighbourhood. The area has become a specific flashpoint in recent weeks. Jewish residents and security forces have been attacked on several occasions after a settler group purchased homes in the neighbourhood.

Yesterday’s incident follows several months of high-tension in Jerusalem. In July, serious clashes broke out following the murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khedir, who was killed by Jewish Israeli extremists in an act of revenge for the murder of three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were discovered the previous week. Since then, low-level violence has continued on an almost daily basis and continued last night, when a car driven by a Jewish resident was attacked in Beit Hanina while rioting took place in Silwan and Issawiya. In Shuafat, attacks on the light railway have become a regular occurrence during the past several months. There have also been recent violent clashes between rioting youths and Israeli security forces atop the Temple Mount in the Old City, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned yesterday’s attack and accused Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence in Jerusalem in recent statements. President Reuven Rivlin commented, “The atrocious murder of an innocent baby girl, a victim of indiscriminate terrorism, should disgust all those who have a heart.”