Six wounded in Tel Aviv-area car explosion

Five of the wounded are children; police believe blast was an attempted hit in turf war between rival criminal groups

Six people, including five children, were wounded Friday when a bomb went off in their family car in an apparent underworld hit near Tel Aviv, police and medics said.

The driver of the car, 38, the apparent target, was seriously wounded and taken to the Tel Hashomer Hospital. A 17-year-old who was sitting next to him was moderately hurt.

Four children who were sitting in the back of the vehicle, aged between 3 and 15, were lightly hurt, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.

The incident occurred in Holon, just south of Tel Aviv. “Background to explosion criminal,” tweeted Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Attempted killings are not uncommon, usually attributed to turf wars between crime families. Israel Radio said the driver was “well known to police.”