JERUSALEM — A Hamas militant slammed a minivan into a crowd waiting for a train Wednesday in Jerusalem, killing one person and wounding 13 other people. The Palestinian group said the attack was meant to protect the city's most sensitive and sacred site — the compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The driver was killed by police after the attack, the second such incident in two weeks in Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed incitement stemming from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and "his Hamas partners," a reference to a unity government led by Abbas and backed by the Islamic militant group. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned what he called "the terrorist attack in Jerusalem," saying, "Holy sites should not become the sites of tension, and concrete steps need to be taken now by all sides to de-escalate this situation."
The developments raised fears of worsening violence after months of simmering tensions in the holy city and injected new religious fervor into a wave of unrest fueled by failed peace efforts and stepped-up Jewish settlement construction.
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