Unknown assailants detonate bomb in Bnei Brak apartment building; no injuries

A bomb blew up in an apartment building stairwell in the central city of Bnei Brak on Sunday night, damaging the building.

No one was hurt in the incident, as no residents were in the stairwell at the time, police said. The explosion was heard throughout the city.

Several top municipal officials, including two senior department managers in the city, live in the building. Investigators are exploring a possible connection to organized crime or an attempt to threaten the public officials.

The bombing of the building, at Ba’al Hatanya Street in the ultra-Orthodox city northeast of Tel Aviv, is the second suspected gangland bomb attack in the city in as many months. Last month, two yeshiva students were hurt when a small explosive device attached to a cellphone blew up in the city’s Vizhnitz neighborhood.

Also Sunday, unknown assailants threw a stun grenade at the home of Netivot mayor Yehiel Zohar. No one was hurt and no damage was caused in the attack, believed to be linked to organized crime in the hardscrabble southern town.

Police have launched investigations into both attacks.