Jerusalem Attack: Palestinian Man Drives Car Into Pedestrians In East Jerusalem, Killing Baby, Wounding Several Others
A three-month-old baby was killed and seven people injured after a Palestinian man drove his car into pedestrians at a light rail stop in Jerusalem, in what police are calling a terrorist attack.
Police have identified the driver as Adbel-Rahman Shaloudi, 21, a resident of East Jerusalem who Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld told the Washington Post, had served time in Israeli prisons for terrorism offenses.
According to witnesses cited by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Al-Shaludi drove down the tracks of the city's light rail system, striking passengers who were disembarking from a train. He stopped after hitting a pole, and was reportedly shot by police officers as he tried to flee the scene. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries.
The suspect's teenage brother was reportedly arrested later, after riots broke out around the family home.
The slain girl and her parents, who were both injured in the attack, are reportedly American citizens, according to a statement given by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to the Associated Press.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian President Mahmaoud Abbas of inciting “a terrorist attack in Jerusalem,” citing a speech the Palestinian leader delivered a few days ago in the West Bank city of Ramallah in which he said Palestinians would not “kneel” or drop demands for a capital in East Jerusalem, according to the Washington Post.
"Terrorist attacks like today's in Jerusalem are typical of Hamas, President Abbas's partner in the Palestinian government," Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev told Reuters.
Tensions in East Jerusalem have been high since the killing of three Israeli teenagers in June, followed by the killing of a Palestinian teenager in July. The Israeli government launched “Operation Protective Edge” July 8 after a crack-down in Gaza in the wake of the teenagers' killings prompted rocket fire from Gaza. A cease-fire was declared Aug. 26.
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