A man was killed in a car explosion in Afula, in northern Israel, and a woman was found dead in an apartment in nearby Haifa on Tuesday, both of them apparently the latest victims of an unrelenting crime wave that has swept Israel in recent months.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said it received a report at 8:40 a.m. about a vehicle that had exploded in Afula, and dispatched medics to the scene.

Medics found the man in his 30s unconscious and suffering from multi-system injuries. They attempted to resuscitate him en route to HaEmek Medical Center, but he succumbed to his wounds.

At the same time, police officers arrived at the site of the blast and opened an investigation, while the Fire and Rescue Service worked to extinguish the blaze caused by the explosion and prevent it from spreading to nearby houses.

Police suspect the motive behind the blast is criminal, rather than nationalistic.

Elsewhere in northern Israel, a woman, aged around 50, was........

© The Times of Israel