One Killed in Car Explosion on Tel Aviv Highway

A car exploded in North Tel Aviv on the Ayalon Highway just after midnight on Thursday morning. The explosion happened near the KK"L interchange.

The explosion was criminal and not terror-related, according to police, in what appears to have been a targeted assassination.

One man was killed in the explosion, and the second man in the car was injured.

Police identified the dead man as Abed al-Hafez Ar'ar from the Israeli-Arab town of Jaljulya. His brother, Fadi Ar'ar, was shot and killed two years ago.

The wounded man is Ali Amar from the Israeli-Arab town of Kafr Qassem. His father Mustafa and brother Alaa were shot dead and killed five months ago.

Both the victims had previously been arrested as suspects in a double homicide, but were released due to lack of evidence.

The explosion was heard throughout neighboring neighborhoods, and initially there was speculation that it was a terrorist's car bomb.