A bomb blast today rocked a bus in the Israeli population center of Tel Aviv as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the region hoping to secure a truce in the eight-day-old bloody conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Sky News reports that the explosion took place around noon local time across the street (about 100 meters) from the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Reports say some 22 victims were hurt, with three suffering critical wounds.
Investigators believe the explosive was planted on the bus and that it was not a suicide bombing.
A local resident told Sky News he heard the victims were “hit with nails, that the bomb was filled with nails and little sort of marbles that kind of flew in all different directions.”
It was the first major bombing in Tel Aviv since 2006, when a suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded 70 at a shawarma restaurant.