a town south of Tel Aviv, Israeli radio and police said. Several people were injured in the blast at a main junction in Rishon Letzion, about 10 km (6 miles) south of Tel Aviv, news media quoted ambulance services as saying. The British Broadcasting Service (BBC) quoted police as saying that criminals and not a suicide militant attacker were to blame for the blast.
The bomb was reportedly under the driver’s seat and only the driver was killed in the attack.
Eyewitnesses said the blast shook building and cars far away as 200m (650ft) were damaged.
The French News Agency (AFP) quoted Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld as saying that the explosion took place near a winery in central Rishon Letzion. The most recent deadly suicide attack by Palestinian militants in Israel was in April this year.
ADDING TO TENSIONS
The explosion was expected to add to anxiety in the region where Jewish people prepare for the Jewish religious day of Yom Kippur on October 1. Apparently fearing militant attacks, Israel said Friday, September 29, it has postponed plans for a final pullout from Lebanon.
The Israeli authorities say they are that the Islamic guerrilla group Hezbollah is digging in for another round of conflict, and that international forces are not doing enough to stop it.
Up to 30,000 United Nations backed peacekeepers will form a buffer between Israeli forces and Hezbollah on the border in South Lebanon. But they have no mandate to disarm Hezbollah and Israel fears this could create a dangerous situation, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported.
Israel had planned to pull all its troops out of Lebanon by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which begins on Sunday. But six weeks after the ceasefire that ended 34 days of war with Hezbollah, Israel is reluctant to withdraw because of disagreements over border security.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has reportedly said his fighters remain in South Lebanon, and have no intention of leaving with their estimated 12,000 rockets.
