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Baby killed and eight wounded in suspected terror attack in Jerusalem Baby killed and eight wounded in suspected terror attack in Jerusalem
(about 1 hour later)
A three-month old baby has died and eight other people are wounded – one seriously – in what police believe is a suspected “terrorist attack” after a car was driven onto a pavement crowded with pedestrians alighting from Jerusalem’s light railway. A three-month old baby was killed and eight other people wounded in Jerusalem – one seriously – in what Israel police are describing as a “terrorist attack” in which a speeding car drove onto a pavement crowded with pedestrians alighting from the city’s light railway.
Video footage posted on social media – and purporting to show the incident – shows a car on the main road slowing slightly before crossing to the train tracks and climbing on to the station pavement and ploughing through the people standing on it. Video footage posted on social media appears to show a car on the main road slowing slightly before crossing to the train tracks and climbing on to the station pavement and ploughing through the people standing on it.
The Guardian could not confirm its authenticity. According to a tweet from an Israeli government spokesman for the Arab media, the driver – a former Palestinian prisoner – “is a member of Hamas”.
Local residents in Silwan identified the driver to Al Jazeera as allegedly being a former Palestinian prisoner who was previously jailed three times for stone throwing. He is believed to be from Silwan, which has recently become a flashpoint in the city. Video footage of the injured suspect showed a young man in blue jeans and a blue T-shirt lying on the ground.
The driver was shot by armed police nearby and arrested reportedly while trying to flee the scene. He was described as being in a serious condition and under guard at one of the city’s hospitals.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening at about 6pm on Road 1 – one of Jerusalem’s main arterial roads – as passengers were getting off one of the city’s light railway trains a a stop on Ammunition Hill near the national police headquarters.The incident occurred on Wednesday evening at about 6pm on Road 1 – one of Jerusalem’s main arterial roads – as passengers were getting off one of the city’s light railway trains a a stop on Ammunition Hill near the national police headquarters.
“A private car which arrived from the direction of the French Hill junction hit a number of pedestrians who were on the pavement,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement. “The driver apparently tried to flee on foot and was shot and wounded by a policeman from the Jerusalem district.” The baby girl, who suffered serious head injuries in the incident, died a few hours later of her wounds in a nearby medical centre.
A paramedic who was at the scene told the Ynet website that he had treated the baby’s mother “for a serious head wound” and that the car had hit the stroller with her baby in it. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu immediately blamed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, accusing him of “incitement to an attack on Jews in Jerusalem.” Netanyahu has ordered police reinforcements in Jerusalem, following consultations with public security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
Photographs from the scene of the showed a silver Volkswagen hatchback car, its doors open, resting on a fallen lamppost. “This is how Abu Mazen (Abbas’) partners in government work. This is the same Abbas that only a few days ago called for harming Jews in Jerusalem,” said Netanyahu.
The car in the images appears to match the one caught on video. Netanyahu was referring to to Abbas’ call last week to Palestinians to use “any means” to prevent Israeli settlers from accessing the Temple Mount.
Chief police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the Guardian: “We are treating this as a terrorist incident after a car drove into people waiting for a train.” Chief police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld added: “We can confirm that this was a terrorist attack. The driver ... is a resident of Silwan and has a terrorist background. He has served time in jail for terror activity,” Rosenfeld said.
The driver of the car, named as a 21-year old Arab resident of the Silwan area of east Jerusalem who has been jailed three times for stone throwing, was shot by armed police nearby and arrested reportedly while trying to flee the scene.
He was described as being in a serious condition and under guard at one of the city’s hospitals.
“A private car which arrived from the direction of the French Hill junction hit a number of pedestrians who were on the pavement and injured nine of them,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.
“The driver apparently tried to flee on foot and was shot and wounded by a policeman from the Jerusalem district.”
A paramedic who was at the scene told the Ynet website that he had treated the baby’s mother “for a serious head wound” and that the car had hit the stroller with her baby in.
Photographs from the scene of the showed a silver Volkswagen hatchback car, its doors open, resting on a fallen lamppost. The car in the images appears to match the one caught on video.
Although details are sketchy, police said suspect the incident is what is known as a so called “run-over” attack that in the past has seen vehicles driven into passersby.Although details are sketchy, police said suspect the incident is what is known as a so called “run-over” attack that in the past has seen vehicles driven into passersby.
East Jerusalem has experienced months of unrest since a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and burned to death by Jewish extremists in early July.East Jerusalem has experienced months of unrest since a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and burned to death by Jewish extremists in early July.
The light railway that runs through the city has been the target of repeated stone throwing incidents since the summer.The light railway that runs through the city has been the target of repeated stone throwing incidents since the summer.
Tensions have been high in Jerusalem since the 50-day Gaza war that ended in August and the killing of a Palestinian teen in the city by alleged Israeli assailants to avenge the deaths of three abducted Israeli youths in the occupied West Bank.
The last deadly incidents in Jerusalem took place in August when a Palestinian killed an Israeli and overturned a bus with a construction vehicle and a gunman wounded a soldier in attacks that appeared to be a backlash against Israel’s Gaza war.
Israel captured east Jerusalem along with Gaza and the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War. It annexed the city shortly afterwards and passed a law in 1980 that declared all of Jerusalem its capital, a move not recognised internationally.