Gunmen opened fire on the Israeli embassy in Mauritania early today.
Three people were wounded, and no embassy staff were hurt, the Israeli ambassador said.
At least three gunmen exchanged fire with guards at the fortified embassy in Mauritanian capital.
The gunmen also sprayed bullets at a nightclub about 50 metres from the embassy on the same street, injuring its two Mauritanian owners and a French woman.
The attack followed recent public calls by political parties in Mauritania, an Islamic Republic that straddles black and Arab Africa, for the government to sever diplomatic ties with Israel.
The western Saharan country is one of the few Arab League states to have relations with the Jewish state.