Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - A young 17 year old, injured two days ago by a car that rammed into a group of people, died this morning of Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem. The young man, Shalom Aharon Badani, was the son of a member of Shas, the ultra-Orthodox party.
On 5 November, Ibrahim al-Akkari, a 38 year-old Palestinian from the Shuafat refugee camp, drove his car into a group of people waiting at the tram stop on Shimon HaTzadik Street, near East Jerusalem. In the morning a group of Israeli settlers had entered the Temple Mount to protest and pray, demanding the right to pray on the site, sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians. The soldiers who were defending the settlers, to ward off the crowd of Muslims who had gathered shouting and throwing stones, fired tear gas and even penetrated the al-Aqsa mosque, causing a fire.
Akkari was killed by police gunfire. In the collision a border
guard, who was at the tram stop, was killed and 12 people were injured.
Tensions remain high in the city and there are thousands of soldiers in riot
gear.
Last night new clashes occurred near the cemetery at the Lions Gate, before the
funeral of Akkari. The police handed over the body of the Palestinian at about
11.30 in the evening, allowing only 35 people, the immediate family, to attend
the funeral. But hours earlier, a crowd of people had gathered in the graveyard,
driven out with tear gas, rubber bullets, stun grenades. Clashes with Israeli
security forces were registered in different streets of the city.
The Akkari attack is the third of its kind in a few weeks, described as "terrorism"
by the Israelis and "martyrdom" by the Palestinians. The police decided
to put concrete blocks in front of each tram stop in East Jerusalem.