Jerusalem- Hezbollah, for the first time, launched a ballistic missile from Lebanon on Wednesday at the headquarters of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, the group said in a statement.
Warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv as a surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by Israeli air defence systems over Tel Aviv, the Israeli military said.
Hezbollah said that the building targeted was where the Israeli intelligence agency planned the recent attacks using pagers and other wireless devices. The launch came amid Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, which has killed at least 500 people and displaced tens of thousands.
It is the first time that the Iran-backed group has fired a ballistic missile since October when hostilities with Israel were triggered by the war on Gaza.
“In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honourable resistance, and in defence of Lebanon and its people, the Islamic Resistance launched a ‘Qader 1’ ballistic missile targeting the Mossad headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, which is the headquarters responsible for assassinating leaders and blowing up pagers and wireless devices,” it said in the statement.
“The Islamic Resistance launched a ‘Qader 1’ ballistic missile at 6:30am (03:30 GMT) on Wednesday, 25-9-2024, targeting the Mossad headquarters in 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 Israeli military said it was the first time a missile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel.
Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation from the Israeli side.
The Israeli Air Force said in a post on X that its planes had struck the launcher from which the missile was fired in the area of Nafakhiyeh in Lebanon.
SENDING A MESSAGE
The Israeli army reported on Wednesday that Hezbollah had also launched attacks on the occupied Syrian region of Golan Heights and near Mount Carmel in northern Israel.
It added that the defence systems intercepted rocket and unmanned air vehicle attacks in the morning.
Aljazeera reporting from Marjayoun in South Lebanon said that Hezbollah has ramped up its firing of rockets at Israel.
It suggested that the missile fired at Tel Aviv was meant as a “message”.
“It’s only one missile, so it’s more than likely to be a message from Hezbollah that they still have ballistic missile capability,” Aljazeera reported.
“The Israeli army says that their missile defence system intercepted it. The fear for the Israelis is that the missile defence system simply gets overwhelmed.”
Meanwhile, Israel continued overnight and into Wednesday to pound Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it conducted a series of air strikes in four waves, one of the largest campaigns in its history, with 250 US made fighter jets dropping 2,000 munitions.
Israel’s war on Gaza has drawn in Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups from across the Middle East.
The shift of Israel’s focus from Gaza to Lebanon in recent days has revived fears that a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah could erupt, or even a conflagration stretching across the region.
Earlier Israel’s military chief told troops that air strikes in Lebanon would continue in order to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and to prepare the way for a possible ground operation by Israeli forces.
“You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day,” General Herzi Halevi told Israeli troops on the border with Lebanon, according to a statement from the military. “This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”
CONCERN GROWS
World leaders expressed concern that the conflict – running in parallel to Israel’s war in Gaza was escalating rapidly as the death toll in Lebanon rose and thousands fled their homes.
In Tehran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Hezbollah and other resistance forces are so far the winners of the war, one reason of which is Israel’s massacre of women and children in Palestine and Lebanon.
“Until today, the victory has been for Hezbollah and the resistance forces; One reason is killing people,” he told a group of veterans and activists in the field of Jihad and resistance in Tehran Wednesday.
“Since the regime has not been able to win over the resistance force, it is forced to pretend to win by hitting women, children, defenseless people and cars on the road, schools and hospitals. So, it has failed so far,” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Some of the effective and valuable forces of Hezbollah were martyred, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the sort of damage that could bring the group to its knees.”
“Therefore, they have won until today, and by God’s grace, with God’s power, the final victory in this battle will belong to the resistance front and the Hezbollah front,” Iran leader added.
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