Six people were hurt in an accidental explosion from a gas build up under a fruit and vegetable shop in Arab East Jerusalem on Saturday, Israeli police said.
Three Palestinians were taken to hospital with moderate to serious wounds and three others were lightly hurt in the explosion which ripped through two stores in an Arab quarter near Jerusalem's walled Old City.
Police sappers who were called to the scene concluded the blast was not caused by explosives but rather from the ignition of gases that built up underneath the shop.
They found that the blast "was not caused by a bomb but rather due to a concentration of gases..and the build-up of gases caused an explosion that damaged several shops," a police spokesman said.
The findings ruled out initial suspicions that included the possibility the blast was due to a bomb planted by Jewish militants, or was caused by explosives stored in the building for a future militant attack.
"It was a very large explosion," said Mr Zelig Feiner, a spokesman for the Zaka rescue service. "The two shops here are completely destroyed."