An explosion at a Tel Aviv junction left three wounded on Tuesday morning.

Shortly before 11:45 A.M., a car exploded at the intersection of Arvei Nahal and Shefa Tal streets, near the suburb of Ramat Gan. Police described the blast as a criminal, not terrorist, incident.

Open gallery view The scene of the car explosion in Tel Aviv, January 19, 2016. Credit: Police spokesman

Magen David Adom ambulence services that arrived at the site found three wounded in the blast - two seriously and one moderately. Two men aged in their forties suffered wounds to their upper bodies and limbs, MDA said, adding that it had evacuated all three to Ichilov Hospital in the city.

Police believe the explosion was an assassination attempt by members of rival criminal gangs.

One of the men seriously wounded in the blast was apparently the target of the operation. He was familiar to the police as a former senior member of the Amir Molnar crime syndicate. However, police learned Tuesday that the man has been acting independently with his brother-in-law in the areas of lending, extortion and debt collection. Police believe the criminal in question is likely at odds with another senior criminal who is currently in prison.

Last April, his brother was wounded in a car bombing in Givatayim.

Open gallery view The scene of the car explosion in Tel Aviv, January 19, 2016. Credit: Mati Yacobov

This is a developing report.