New Jlem Police Unit to Handle Terrorism
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a plan to address increasing terror-related incidents in Jerusalem.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch submitted the plan, which calls for the formation of a special police unit to deal with the deteriorating security situation in the nation's capital. The new unit will be equipped with state-of-the-art intelligence-gathering and technical capabilities to deal with all facets of terror-related crimes in Jerusalem.
"The unrest experienced in Jerusalem, our capital, is always a top priority," Israel Police Commissioner Yochanan Danino said, Israel Hayom reported. "We cannot ignore riots, stone-throwing or the hurling of Molotov cocktails and fireworks prevalent on the Temple Mount and in other areas of the city. These are serious incidents and must be treated as such."
On a nearly daily basis, there are reports of shattered windshields on public buses and private vehicles from rock-throwing attacks. The Jerusalem Light Rail, a favorite target in predominantly Arab neighborhoods, has sustained considerable damage requiring expensive and time-consuming repair.
The latest terror attack took place Wednesday evening, when an Arab resident of Silwan plowed into a crowd of people waiting to board the light rail at the Ammunition Hill stop. At least seven people were injured, two critically, and a three-month-old infant succumbed to her injuries at Hadassah hospital on Mount Scopus.
Police shot and killed the terrorist as he tried to flee the scene, later identifying him as a staunch supporter of Hamas, a known terror group now part of a Palestinian Authority unity government. He had a police record and had served a 16-month sentence for terror-related crimes.
Wednesday's incident was reminiscent of a similar attack on August 4, when an Arab terrorist injured several pedestrians and killed one man with a bulldozer driven from a construction site before overturning a public bus and ramming it repeatedly. A police officer shot and killed him in the midst of his rampage.
