IDF checking if blast in Tel Aviv caused by drone; at least 2 lightly hurt by shrapnel

The Magen David Adom ambulance service reports that paramedics are treating a man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s who were both lightly wounded by shrapnel at the site of a major blast in Tel Aviv.

The two were taken to a local hospital.

Police later say that seven people were lightly wounded.

There is still no word from authorities on the cause of the blast. Israeli television reports the IDF and police are checking if it was caused by a drone.

“We call on [local] residents to listen to the Home Front Command’s orders, to refrain from arriving at the scene and not to approach or touch the remnants of rockets, which are likely to contain explosive material,” a police statement says.

The blast was preceded by a whirring sound, according videos from Tel Aviv that are being shared on social media and by Hebrew media outlets.

מטורף: תיעוד פיצוץ הכטב"מ בעיר תל אביב, שומעים זמזום ואז פיצוץ אדיר!

Crazy: Documentation of the UAV explosion in the city of Tel Aviv, you hear a hum and then a huge explosion! https://t.co/DOYFImMPZF pic.twitter.com/wMtqBZHjRg

— יענקי כהן | Yanki Coen (@yankicoen) July 19, 2024