World Bulletin/News Desk

Violent clashes erupted on Wednesday in an East Jerusalem neighborhood between scores of Palestinian youths, on one hand, and Israeli policemen and army troops, on the other, eyewitnesses said.

They added that the clashes had broken out in the East Jerusalem Silwan neighborhood soon after Israeli policemen and army troops raided the homes of the relatives of a Palestinian driver accused of running over and killing an Israeli baby and injuring eight people.

"A large number of Israeli troops and policemen had arrived in the neighborhood and searched the homes of the relatives of Abdel-Rahman al-Shelodi, who is accused in the running over event," one eyewitness told Anadolu Agency.

He added that the home search provoked the Palestinian youths who clashed with the Israeli troops who responded by firing teargas.

Some Palestinians, the eyewitness said, experienced temporary asphyxiation as a result.

Israeli police, meanwhile, declared maximum alert in Jerusalem, sending reinforcements to different areas, according to Israel's Channel 10.

Earlier in the day, an Israeli baby died of injuries she sustained when a Palestinian driver ran over passengers disembarking from a light rail train in Jerusalem, Israeli medical sources said.

An Israeli spokesperson said the attacker was a resident of East Jerusalem.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, the attacker was a Palestinian youth from Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.

Last Mod: 23 Ekim 2014, 10:15