The murder of Shalhevet Pass was a shooting attack carried out in Hebron, West Bank, on 26 March 2001, in which a Palestinian sniper killed 10-month-old Israeli infant Shalhevet Pass. The event shocked the Israeli public, partly because an investigation ruled that the sniper had deliberately aimed for the baby. According to Deborah Sontag of the New York Times, the murder became a "potent Israeli symbol as an innocent victim of the raging violence." The murder At 4:00 pm on 26 March 2001, Shalhevet was shot in her stroller while accompanied by her parents from a parking lot by Hebron's Avraham Avinu neighborhood, where the family lived. After a ten-minute lull, the Palestinian sniper resumed firing from the Abu Sneinah neighborhood on the hill opposite. Shalhevet was killed instantly; her mother grabbed her when she heard the gunshots, only to discover that the baby was already dead. One of the sniper's bullets penetrated the baby's head, passing through her skull, and hit her father as well. Shalhevet's father, Yitzchak Pass, a student, who had been pushing the stroller, was also seriously wounded minutes later by two bullets. Press accounts indicated that the playground was very busy at the time, because a load of new sand had recently been delivered. According to unconfirmed accounts, another child was grazed by a bullet and two more had bullets pass through their clothing. Aftermath The murder, which occurred during the Second Intifada, produced vocal outrage in Israel and abroad. The nation mourned the killing of the baby. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemned the attack and sent his condolences to the Pass family. Sharon also stated that he saw the Palestinian Authority as responsible for the attack. The Jewish community in Hebron demanded that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reoccupy the Abu Sneineh neighborhood, and the Pass family even stated that they would not bury their baby until the IDF did so. Capture and trial of killer The Palestinian Authority initially arrested the sniper, but released him after a short while. On 9 December 2002 the Shin Bet managed to capture the sniper—Tanzim member Mahmud Amru. In December 2004, a military court convicted the killer and sentenced him to three life terms. According to the Israeli government, an investigation concluded that the sniper had intentionally targeted the baby. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said: The fact that they could pick off the baby