(Tel Aviv) One person was killed before dawn Friday by an explosion in central Tel Aviv that appeared to be the result of an airstrike, according to a report from emergency services as the war between Israel and Hamas enters its 287th session.e day.
The explosion also left two people lightly injured, Zaki Heller, spokesman for Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, told AFP.
A previous police report indicated that there were seven minor injuries, but they were mostly people in shock, Heller said.
PHOTO RICARDO MORAES, REUTERS
A window was shattered by the explosion.
According to police spokesman Dean Elsdunne, a body with shrapnel wounds was found in the building hit by the explosion, at the corner of Ben-Yehuda Avenue and Shalom-Aleichem Street, not far from an annex building of the United States Embassy in Israel.
The explosion occurred around 3:15 a.m. (8:15 p.m. Eastern Time), according to emergency services.
“It may have been an airborne explosion […] “We were very lucky,” said Peretz Amar, Tel Aviv police commander at the scene, adding that “the investigation is ongoing.”
A resident of central Tel Aviv told AFP that he was woken up by a loud explosion: “Everything shook,” he said.
PHOTO RICARDO MORAES, REUTERS
An investigator examines the object that caused the explosion.
“No (alert) siren sounded,” the army said in a statement, adding that “the incident is being thoroughly examined” and that the explosion was “caused by the fall of an aerial target” according to a “preliminary investigation.”
“The air force has increased its air patrols in order to protect Israeli airspace,” the text further states.
“Police forces have arrived on the scene and are inspecting the area for suspicious objects,” the police wrote in a statement.
The police are calling on “residents to respect safety instructions and not to approach or touch debris or fragments that may contain explosives.”
Firefighters said they were considering the possibility that an explosive “drone” was the cause of the blast.