In what Israel terms a "run-over" terrorist attack, a Palestinian deliberately rammed his car into a crowd of Israelis near a light-rail train station in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening (18:00 Israel time, 22 Oct 2014).

Chaya Zissel Braun, a three-month-old baby girl, flew at least ten meters from her stroller after being struck by the car. Critically injured in the attack, she died of her head wounds an hour later in the nearby Mount Scopus Hadassah Hospital.



Eight others were wounded, including two who are in critical condition and the baby’s father. The victims had just disembarked from a light-rail train at the station near the Ammunition Hill memorial and were on the pavement when hit.

The attacker, identified as Abdel Rahman Al-Shaludi, a Palestinian resident of the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, who had served a prison sentence for Hamas terrorist activities, was shot by police as he fled the scene and died in hospital.

A Hamas spokesman reportedly openly welcomed news of the terror attack in Jerusalem by one of its terrorists: "This is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and invasion of our land by the Jews, particularly on the Al-Aqsa Mosque," Hamas spokesman Hossam Badran stated on official Hamas television. Hamas television has also confirmed the identity of the terrorist.

Numerous terrorist attacks using private cars and other vehicles have been carried out in Jerusalem in the past. The last attack occurred in August when a Palestinian used a digger to overturn a bus, killing a father of five and injuring five others.

In addition, the light-rail has come under frequent attack from Molotov cocktails and rocks in the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem in recent months, damaging up to 40% of the trains.