Palestinian dies of wounds after ramming car into crowd and killing baby

A Palestinian rammed a car into pedestrians in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a baby and injuring six other people in what Israeli police said was a "hit-and-run terror attack".

Seven people were hurt, including a three-month-old girl, Haya Zissel Braun, who later died, said Hadassah hospital. She was buried on Wednesday evening.

The driver, identified as 21-year-old Abed Abdelrahman Shaludeh was shot by police and also died of his wounds in hospital. He lived in the highly contentious Palestinian neighbourhood Silwan in east Jerusalem.

The Israeli authorities quickly claimed that Shaludeh was a Hamas member, citing that he had been arrested three times by Israeli authorities. However, no concrete evidence has yet emerged linking Shaludeh to Hamas, or the group to the attack.

It is the second such incident to rock Israel, with a Palestinian man ramming a bus with an excavator back in August. One Israeli was killed and five injured. Police shot the driver dead.

Street clashes broke out after the attack, with Palestinians taking to the streets and throwing rocks at Israeli forces. Jerusalem police vowed "zero tolerance" for the protests and violence and fanned out across the city to prevent any upheaval.

Silwan has been wracked by unrest in recent years after Jewish hardliners took up residence in the area, triggering frequent clashes between stone-throwing residents and police. 

The neighbourhood hit headlines again in recent weeks after settlers acquired another 35 apartments there, triggering a furious reaction from both the Palestinians and the international community.

Footage of the incident posted on YouTube showed a car driving at full speed off the main road and down the pavement where people were standing as two trams passed each other.

Another clip shot on a cellphone showed the driver lying on the ground in a T-shirt and ripped jeans as a man pointed a gun at Shaludeh.