Authorities here opened an investigation on Thursday to determine the cause of a mysterious smell that wafted through the air in Tel Aviv and neighboring cities in central Israel, according to local media reports.

Hundreds of Tel Aviv residents called city hall and government agencies earlier in the day to complain of a sharp "chlorine-like" odor, prompting the Environmental Protection Ministry (EPM) to dispatch teams to conduct urgent tests in the area.

The army's Home Front Command initially estimated that a gas drilling in southern Israel was responsible for the odor, but eventually ruled out that possibility, the Ha'aretz daily reported.

The EPM did not issue special instructions to the residents, after its inspectors failed to detect hazardous substances, and said it intends to run more tests.