Jerusalem, March 1 (Phinisinews/Xinhua-OANA) - Two people were killed after an explosive device attached to a parking car blew up in central Israel on Thursday, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily reported.

The blast occurred in a residential neighborhood in Rishon Letzion, south of Tel Aviv, the police said.

The victims' identities were not disclosed yet, as the police believed that the incident was criminally motivated and had arrested several suspects within hours, Ha'aretz said.

Gang-related murders have risen in Tel Aviv in recent months. Two people were wounded in early February in a car explosion in the city, while last month, Nissim Alperon, an infamous criminal kingpin, narrowly escaped a similar assassination attempt when a motorcyclist attached a magnet-tipped explosive device to his car when he was driving in central Tel Aviv.