Nine people were injured when a car exploded in central Tel Aviv near the Kirya Israel Defense Forces headquarters and the Azrieli shopping complex on Thursday afternoon. Police forces closed off the area and Israel Radio reported that the IDF has locked down the Kirya headquarters and has gone on alert.
Magen David Adom rescue personnel said a car had exploded at 1 p.m. near a bus at the northern entrance of the Azrieli complex on the corners of Begin and Shaul Hamelech Streets.
MDA said that three people were lightly wounded in the blast and an additional six were treated for shock. All the wounded were taken to the nearby Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
According to Israel Radio, police are saying that the event was most likely criminally motivated and not a terror attack. The Israeli media reported that that the police have arrested a suspect who they claim may have perpetrated the attack by hurling a device from a motorbike. Several news sites reported police sources as saying that the explosion seemed to be a high level mob hit. It was unclear who the explosion targeted.
Israel Radio reported that the explosion was most likely another attempt on the life of Nissim Alperon, scion of the alleged Alperon crime family. Alperon survived a car bombing in Ramat Gan in June 2012.
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