An explosion has hit a public bus in the heart of Tel Aviv, wounding at least 10 people, even as frantic diplomatic efforts continued to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas.

By Damien McElroy and agencies

Police described the explosion as a terror attack. It endangered truce talks taking place between Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State.

A police spokesman said that of the wounded, five people were moderately to seriously hurt.

"A bomb exploded on a bus in central Tel Aviv. This was a terrorist attack. Most of the injured suffered only mild injuries," said Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Mr Netanyahu.

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The bus was charred and blackened, its side windows blown out and its glass scattered on the asphalt.

This is the official announcement of the ceasefire, which didn't even last an hour.