The circumstances of the explosion are still being investigated by police, but it comes following a series of murders and attempted murders in the city.
By BEN HARTMANUpdated: OCTOBER 25, 2015 01:22
An explosion in Kiryat Gat on Saturday night left two men wounded and at least two more suffering from shock in what police are treating as a possible failed underworld hit.Around 9:45 p.m., Southern District police reported that they had received a call about a car explosion on Tzahal Street in the city.Around a half hour later, Magen David Adom paramedics reported that they had pulled two men in their 20s from the car, one moderately wounded, and one lightly hurt. Two people were also treated at the scene for shock.Both men are known to police, the Southern District spokesman said.The circumstances of the explosion are still being investigated by police, but it comes following a series of murders and attempted murders in the city and surrounding areas targeting rival underworld figures.In September, underworld figure Shalom Shlomo, 40, the older brother of crime family boss Benny Shlomo, was gunned down while sitting in his car near the city. The Shlomo brothers organization is based out of nearby moshav Heletz.Not far away, rival mobster Shalom Domrani’s empire is based on Moshav Otzem. In recent years, the surrounding areas, including Ashkelon, have been the site of a bloody feud between the two men, resulting in a number of victims.Saturday night’s explosion came just a few days after a Hadera man was critically wounded when a bomb exploded in his car in the city on Wednesday, in what police believe was