A car bomb has killed one of Israel's most prominent crime bosses in Tel Aviv, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reports.

Israeli police identified the dead man on Monday as Yaakov Alperon, the head of one of the country's most powerful crime families.

Alperon is the most senior figure to be killed and the latest casualty of ongoing gang wars that have left scores of people dead.

Police say Alperon was killed instantly when an explosive device was apparently detonated by remote control on a street in Tel Aviv.

'Serious event'

In recent years, gang violence has plagued Israeli towns and cities.

"An extremely serious event took place today, and its consequences are completely clear to us," Ilan Franco, the Tel Aviv police commander, said.

"It [is] likely [that this] happened because of an internal conflict within the Tel Aviv crime world ... If there are consequences to this attack we will have to deal with them."

According to Haaretz, Alperon's assassination dominated the news, pushing Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza and a summit between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders off the airwaves. 

In May last year, Alperon's older brother, Nissim, survived the ninth assassination attempt on him.

Over the years, the Alperons have encountered numerous police interrogations and have passed through multiple courtrooms.

But police most recently focused their attention on brothers Yaakov and Nissim as heads of the crime family.

Son charged

Alperon's death comes just days after the prosecution filed charges for indictment against his son, Dror, for alleged extortion, threats and assault of a police officer on duty.

Earlier this year, the Tel Aviv district court convicted Shalom Sheetrit and Yaron Sanker for attempting to murder Alperon, but acquitted four Belarussian citizens, who were allegedly hired as hitmen by the Ohana crime family.

According to the indictment, the Ohanas had a business dispute with the Alperons.

When the judges passed their ruling, they said that the Alperons were targets for many of their enemies.