Israeli security and emergency responders work at the site of a bomb blast in Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Moti Milrod

The military wings of the Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Monday for a failed suicide bombing near a synagogue in Tel Aviv that Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency described as a terrorist attack.

A man who was carrying the bomb was killed in the incident late on Sunday, according to police at the scene. The bomber was a Palestinian from the Nablus area in the West Bank, and he carried the explosive device in a backup, Israeli Hebrew-language media reported.

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A 43-year-old passerby on an electric scooter was injured in the blast.

In a statement, Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades said its “martyrdom operations” (suicide attacks) inside Israel would continue as long as the “occupation’s massacres and assassination policy continue” — a reference to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran on July 31.

Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, although Hamas and Iran have blamed the Jewish state and vowed revenge.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists launched the ongoing war in Gaza on Oct. 7, when they invaded southern Israel and went on a bloody rampage, killing 1,200 people, wounding thousands more, and taking 250 hostages. Israel responded with a military offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which borders the Jewish state to the south, aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling the terrorist group’s military and governing capabilities.

Sunday’s failed suicide bombing came about an hour after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities said the alert level had been raised in Gush Dan, the metropolitan area that includes Tel Aviv, where security forces were conducing searches.

“This was a terror attack, with the detonation of a powerful explosive device,” the police and Shin Bet said in a joint statement. “Citizens are urged to be vigilant.”

The assailant may have planned to target the nearby synagogue or the shopping center, according to Ayalon District Police Commander Haim Bublil, who told Kan News Radio that it remained unclear why the bomb exploded when it did.

Israeli Police spokesman Eli Levy said it was a “miracle” that the incident was not a high-casualty attack.

“A great miracle happened here. This is a very difficult incident that is being investigated by the police and Shin Bet,” he told Kan News.