Tel Aviv blast caused by ‘aerial target’; 1 killed, 10 others injured: Report
A powerful, loud explosion was reported in a building in Tel Aviv on Friday morning, the Israeli police said.
A powerful, loud explosion was reported in a building in Tel Aviv on Friday morning, reportedly killing one person and injuring at least 10 others. According to the initial investigation, the explosion was caused by an “aerial target”; however, it was not immediately clear how the strike evaded Israel’s air defences.
According to the Israeli police, several officials, including the bomb disposal experts, have arrived at the scene and are “dealing with the situation”, reported AFP.
The local police said that the blast sounded at around 3:10 am, reverberating to nearby cities.
The origin of the explosion is still unknown.
“Earlier tonight, an explosion was heard in the central Tel Aviv area, the suspicion that it was an aerial target is being investigated,” the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said.
Meanwhile, residents who live near the place of the explosion said that some objects in their house were shattered as a result of the blast, reported The Jerusalem Post.
The explosion came hours after the Israeli military confirmed that it had killed a senior commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, Habib Maatouk, in southern Lebanon - the latest senior member of the group to be killed in months of tit-for-tat strikes across the border with Israel.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned that the group would widen the scope of its attacks in Israel if it struck more civilians. A day later, the Iran-backed group attacked Israel with dozens of rockets and missiles, including on the Filon base in Israel's Safed for the first time, reported Reuters.
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Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since the Iran-backed group announced support for Palestinians shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing at least 14 people and triggering a massive war. According to reports, the fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters so far.
Meanwhile, the Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 38,600 people, and created a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal Palestinian territory, displacing most of its 2.3 million population.
(With inputs from agencies)