Man Killed in Car Explosion in Kiryat Gat, Police Open Probe

A man was killed on Thursday after he was inside a car that exploded and caught fire in Kiryat Gat. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, Southern District police officers, including bomb disposal experts and forensic investigators, arrived at the scene and began collecting evidence and investigating what happened.

MDA emergency medic Aviad Benhamo said that during the firefighting efforts, responders saw a man with no signs of life and had to pronounce him dead at the scene. United Hatzalah paramedic Ronen Gil, together with volunteers Yanki Weinberg and Maor Ben Dahan, said bystanders reported hearing an explosion and seeing the vehicle go up in flames. They added that a body was found in the car with severe injuries.

The incident comes at the start of the month after 35-year-old Lea Ofri Malka, a mother of a two-year-old girl, was killed when her car exploded after an explosive device weighing about half a kilogram had been planted inside it. According to the investigation, the device was placed under the driver’s seat, and the blast left her no chance of survival.

Immediately after that killing, the Central District’s major crimes unit opened an investigation. Chen Cohen, Malka’s former partner, was questioned under caution and later arrested. A Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court extended his detention on suspicion of murder with premeditation and conspiracy to commit a crime. Cohen denies the allegations and says he was at home when the explosion happened. In a previous interview with Walla, Malka’s father, Yaakov Malka, said the family had faced months of tension and threats before her killing, adding, “We did not think things would end in such a brutal murder.”