Lebanon's Hezbollah fires missile at Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv | News on Israeli-Lebanese attacks

According to the Israeli army, it was the first time an attack from Lebanon reached central Israel while cross-border hostilities continue.

Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile at the Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, the Lebanon-based group said.

Warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv on Wednesday as a surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems after it was detected flying over from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

Hezbollah said Israeli intelligence planned the latest attacks using pagers and other wireless devices in the targeted building. The attack came amid Israel's bombardment of Lebanon that has killed at least 500 people and forced tens of thousands to flee.

It is the first time the Iran-backed armed group has claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack since October, when the war in the Gaza Strip sparked hostilities with Israel.

“The Islamic Resistance fired a 'Qader 1' ballistic missile on Wednesday, 9/25/2024 at 6:30 a.m. (03:30 GMT), targeting the Mossad headquarters on the outskirts of Tel Aviv,” Hezbollah said in a statement. “This headquarters is responsible for the assassination of leaders and the explosion of pagers and wireless devices.”

The group added that the attack was carried out in support of the people of the Gaza Strip and “in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel.

Hezbollah claimed to have carried out an air attack on an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month, but there was no confirmation from Israel.

There were no reports of damage or casualties from Israel and the military said there had been no changes to civil defense instructions for central Israel.

The Israeli Air Force said in a post on X that its planes hit the missile's launch pad in the Nafakhiyeh area of ​​Lebanon.

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The Israeli army reported on Wednesday that Hezbollah had also launched attacks on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and near the Carmel Mountains in northern Israel.

It was further reported that the defense systems had intercepted attacks with missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the morning.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan reported from Marjayoun, Lebanon, that Hezbollah appeared to have increased its rocket fire at Israel.

He said the rocket fired at Tel Aviv was intended as a “message.”

“It's just one missile, so it's most likely a message from Hezbollah that it still has ballistic missiles,” Khan reported.

“The Israeli army says its missile defense system intercepted the attack. The Israelis fear that their missile defense system will simply be overwhelmed.”

Meanwhile, Israel continued its bombing of Lebanon overnight and into Wednesday.

The Israeli military said it carried out a series of air strikes in four waves, one of the largest campaigns in its history, with 250 warplanes dropping 2,000 bombs.

Israel's war on Gaza has drawn Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups from across the Middle East into the war.

The shift of Israeli attention from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon in recent days has revived fears that a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah could break out or even a conflagration could spread throughout the region.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 558 people were killed and hundreds injured in Israeli attacks on Monday, marking the deadliest day of violence in the country since the 1975-1990 civil war.