Hezbollah says it fired ballistic missile targeting Mossad HQ near Tel Aviv
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Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system responding to rockets launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon on Sept 24.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIRUT – Hezbollah said on Sept 25 that it fired a ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel’s feared spy agency Mossad near Tel Aviv, saying recent attacks on the militant group were planned there.
It is the first time the group has claimed a ballistic missile strike since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after Hamas carried out its Oct 7 attack
The Israeli military said it was the “first time ever” a missile fired by Hezbollah had reached the Tel Aviv area before being intercepted by air defences.
“The Islamic Resistance launched a ‘Qader 1’ ballistic missile at 6.30am (11.30am in Singapore) on (Sept 25)… 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 Iran-backed group added, referring to attacks last week that killed scores in Lebanon, including a top commander.
It also said the strike was carried out in support of Palestinians in Gaza and “in defence of Lebanon and its people”.
Military analyst Riad Kahwaji said it was the first time Hezbollah has fired ballistic missiles at Israel, adding that they were “Iranian-produced”.
“They’re all variants of the Scuds,” he said, adding that the missiles have a range of “not more than 300km”.
There were no reports of damage or casualties, and the Israeli military said there was no change to civil defence instructions for central Israel.
Warning sirens also sounded in other areas of central Israel, including the city of Netanya.
Israel has been carrying out its heaviest air strikes
Since Sept 23, the Israeli offensive has killed at least 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad said.
Half-a-million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said.
In Beirut, thousands of people who fled from southern Lebanon have been sheltering in schools and other buildings.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at Israel in recent days as the months of conflict across the border with southern Lebanon has intensified.
Also on Sept 25, the Israeli military said a drone crossing into Israeli territory from Syria was intercepted by fighter jets south of the Sea of Galilee.
The Islamic Resistance armed groups in Iraq said in a statement they attacked a target in the occupied Golan Heights via a drone.
Shift of focus
After almost a year of war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, also backed by Iran.
Israel military leaders have said they are prepared for a range of options as it battles Hezbollah, a more sophisticated, disciplined and experienced enemy than Hamas.
Israeli troops have been training for months for a possible ground operation inside Lebanon aimed at securing its northern border and enabling thousands of Israeli residents who fled for their safety to return to their communities, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s top war priorities.
Israel’s close ally, the United States, is sticking by it despite its concerns about civilian casualties.
While Arab states have condemned Israel’s military campaigns, they have not taken strong steps that would force it to rein in the most powerful military in the Middle East.
On Sept 24, a strike in Beirut killed senior Hezbollah commander
He is one of several key figures who have been assassinated since the fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah nearly a year ago in parallel with the Gaza war.
‘Lebanon is on the brink’
The new offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is widening and could destabilise the Middle East.
The UN Security Council said it was set to meet on Sept 25 to discuss the conflict.
“Lebanon is on the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
Israel’s military said it conducted “extensive strikes” on Sept 24 on Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and dozens of launchers that were aimed at Israeli territory.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks have weakened Hezbollah and will continue.
Hezbollah “has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters and the means to fight. These are all severe blows”, he said. AFP, REUTERS
