An Israeli man was killed and two were seriously injured after a bomb attached to a private vehicle detonated in Ashkelon on Sunday night.
The man was later identified as Avi Bitton, the financial handler to the head of a major organized crime ring in southern Israel known as Shalom Domrani. Bitton escaped a different assassination attempt five years ago.
Police bomb disposal unit officers are on the scene as Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics determined the death of one and rushed two men, 26 and 31-year-olds, to Barzilai Medical Center in the city with serious injuries.
Over the last year, the infighting between two criminal organizations in the south, Benny Shlomo and Shlomo Domrani, has led to multiple assassinations.
Two weeks ago, a car went up in flames in the Beit Hashikma moshav near Ashkelon. Initial police investigations estimated that it was due to an explosion. Last week, three men associated with the Benny Shlomo criminal organization were arrested in a hideout apartment in Ashdod. They were suspected of plotting an assassination.
Three more Benny Shlomo members were arrested three weeks ago in identical conditions, and, in April 2021, a 28-year-old man was killed and a 24-year-old was injured in an assassination attempt. Both were associated with Shalom Domrani.