JERUSALEM: A Palest-inian motorist slammed his car into a crowded railway station in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a three-month-old baby girl and wounding eight people in what police called a terror attack.

The incident came after months of tensions between Jews and Palestinians in east Jerusalem _ the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their future capital. The area has experienced unrest and near-daily attacks on the city’s light rail by Palestinian youths since a wave of violence over the summer, capped by an attack on Gaza by Israel.

The car struck the train station near the national headquarters of Israel’s police force. A spokesman said the driver got out of the car and tried to flee before he was shot by a police officer. He said footage captured by security cameras indicated the driver deliberately struck people waiting at the stop.

“We look at this incident as a terrorist attack,” he said.

The area was cordoned off and forensic and bomb disposal experts were on the scene examining the car.The footage, posted on the Ynet news site, showed the car turning out of moving traffic and heading straight into the station, accelerating while plowing through several rows of people.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014