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Israeli officer opens fire at suspicious vehicle outside Egypt’s Tel Aviv Embassy

The suspect driver fled, and his vehicle was reportedly found less than a mile from the embassy.

Egyptian Embassy in central Tel Aviv, Sept. 11, 2011. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images.
Egyptian Embassy in central Tel Aviv, Sept. 11, 2011. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images.

An Israeli police officer stationed outside the Egyptian Embassy in central Tel Aviv opened fire Thursday after a suspicious vehicle approached the diplomatic mission, the Israel Police said.

The suspicious vehicle “was located by police forces who were called to the scene and is currently being examined,” according to the statement.

No injuries were reported in the incident, the police statement noted.

An Israel Police spokesman told JNS that “the circumstances of the incident are currently under review.” In a subsequent statement, the spokesman stressed that “at this time, there is no indication of any security-related incident.”

The Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv did not respond to a request for comment by press time on Thursday night.

The suspect driver fled, and his vehicle was found less than a mile from the embassy, Israel’s Ynet news outlet reported. A bomb squad inspected the card, and no explosives were found, according to Ynet.

“We are currently probing the incident in an attempt to understand why it aroused suspicion and why the driver fled,” a police source told the Hebrew news site.

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