Murder of Shalhevet Pass

On 26 March 2001, at around 4:00 pm, 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass was shot while sitting in her stroller in a parking lot near the Avraham Avinu neighborhood of Hebron, in the West Bank, where her family lived. A Palestinian sniper fired from the Abu Sneinah neighborhood on a hill opposite the site, resuming shooting after a ten-minute lull. Shalhevet was killed instantly when a bullet passed through her skull; the same bullet also struck her father, Yitzchak Pass, who was pushing the stroller and was seriously wounded by two bullets. Her mother, who grabbed the baby upon hearing gunfire, discovered she was already dead. Press accounts described the area as crowded at the time due to a recent delivery of new sand for the playground, and unconfirmed reports indicated another child was grazed by a bullet while two others had bullets pass through their clothing.

The killing occurred during the Second Intifada and prompted strong condemnation in Israel and internationally. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemned the attack, extended condolences to the Pass family, and stated he held the Palestinian Authority responsible. Members of the Jewish community in Hebron called for the Israel Defense Forces to reoccupy the Abu Sneineh neighborhood, and the Pass family said they would not bury their daughter until this occurred.

The Palestinian Authority initially arrested a suspect but released him shortly afterward. On 9 December 2002, Israel's Shin Bet security service captured the man identified as the sniper, Tanzim member Mahmud Amru. In December 2004, a military court convicted him and sentenced him to three life terms. An Israeli government investigation concluded the sniper had intentionally targeted the infant, and a spokesperson for Prime Minister Sharon characterized the shooting as a deliberate, cold-blooded act. In its verdict, the court described the killing as an act carried out with a telescopic sight and expressed that the case had left a lasting impression on the judges due to its cruelty.

Yitzchak Pass, the child's father, later joined the Bat Ayin Underground group, which planned to bomb a Palestinian girls' school in East Jerusalem. He was arrested and convicted of possessing ten pounds of explosives and served a two-year prison sentence.

Media coverage of the killing drew scrutiny: the Associated Press's headline, "Jewish toddler dies in West Bank," was criticized by author Joshua Levy for downplaying the nature of the killing. The Voice of Palestine, the Palestinian Authority's official radio station, reported that accounts of the shooting were false and alleged the child's mother had killed her own baby. The case became widely referenced in Israel as a symbol of civilian suffering during the conflict, and a memorial song for "Baby Shalhevet" was performed by singer Avraham Fried, written by Rabbi Manis Friedman.