Israel intercepts Hezbollah ballistic missile near Tel Aviv in first such attack

By Irene Nasser, Dana Karni, Helen Regan and Sophie Tanno, CNN

(CNN) — Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the country’s commercial heartlands and marked a new escalatory step in the conflict between the two sides.

People in Tel Aviv and the central city of Netanya woke up to sirens on Wednesday as Israel said its air defenses intercepted a surface-to-surface missile – the first time ever a missile fired by Hezbollah has reached close to the city, the Israeli military said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah confirmed it launched a Qadr 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel’s intelligence service Mossad, which it blames for attacks targeting its members, including the coordinated explosions of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies last week.

It is believed to be the first ballistic missile to be launched by Hezbollah toward Israel, and was fired “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza” and in “defense of Lebanon and its people,” Hezbollah said.

The Israeli military said the missile was intercepted near Tel Aviv, a city of more than 4 million people on the Mediterranean coast, and the air force struck its launcher in the area of Nafakhiyeh, southern Lebanon.

“Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, one surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array,” the Israeli military said.

Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani described the missile as “heavy” and “long range.”

“It’s the first time that Hezbollah has fired toward Tel Aviv,” he said.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly said that any Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital would prompt an attack on Israel’s economic center.

Israel and Hezbollah’s exchange of fire continued Wednesday.

The Israeli military said it hit more than 280 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Wednesday.

At least 51 people were killed in Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the country’s minister of health. Firass Abiad said “large waves” of people had been displaced across the country.

Meanwhile, around 40 projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israel on Wednesday morning, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Several were intercepted but one hit an assisted-living facility in northern Israel, with no injuries reported.

Since the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas last October, Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones from Lebanon targeting northern Israel.

About 60,000 people have been evacuated from Israel’s northern region as a result of the cross-border fighting. Israel has maintained that fighting will continue until it is safe for those residents to return home.

The missile intercept comes days after Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah killed more than 500 people across Lebanon, including dozens of children. Monday was the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly two decades.

Flights at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport continued as usual Wednesday, an airport spokesperson said.

Sirens were heard Wednesday in Netanya for the first time since October 7, 2023, according to Israeli authorities.

Misery in Lebanon

In recent days, Israel and Hezbollah have traded waves of airstrikes and rocket attacks, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes in southern Lebanon.

Israel has said it is targeting Hezbollah positions and infrastructure — which it has said are embedded in residential areas — with one strike killing a senior commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, on Tuesday. The Israeli military said Qubaisi commanded various Hezbollah missile units and was killed along with two other commanders in southern Beirut.

Residents who have fled their homes in Lebanon said residential areas had been flattened and whole towns emptied. One man told CNN he witnessed “non-stop bombardment from every direction” which he described as “indiscriminate bombing.”

The UN children’s agency (UNICEF) warned that many children remain “missing under rubble” and caught “on dangerous roads” after Israeli airstrikes.

At least 558 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said. More children were killed in the country in one day on Monday than in the entire past year, Ettie Higgins, UNICEF Deputy Representative for Lebanon Ettie Higgins told a UN briefing.

Meanwhile Lebanese hospitals are struggling with the influx of wounded, and there are difficulties getting those in need to hospital for treatment as roads were congested with people trying to flee from Israeli strikes. British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah said the healthcare system is “very, very fragile” as it cannot cope with more than 2,000 injuries in two days.

“We have received children with unfortunately, the same pattern of injuries that I used to see in Gaza,” Abu-Sittah told CNN. “Blast injuries in the face, amputations to the limbs, multiple shrapnel injuries, crushing injuries as a result of houses being demolished on top of them.”

An estimated half a million people have been displaced in Lebanon, the country’s foreign minister said Tuesday, with that number set to rise further.

Om Hussein’s family were among the thousands who fled the country’s south. They spent 14 hours on the road to Beirut, stuck in congested roads, and said they didn’t have time to collect clothes or medicine. “We had no food or water, but volunteers on motorcycles distributed water to those stranded in cars,” she told CNN.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military warned displaced residents of southern Lebanon not to return to their homes as it vowed to speed up its “offensive operations” against Hezbollah without reprieve.

Israeli troops held exercises simulating ground combat in Lebanon, which the military has not ruled out.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Jomana Haradsheh, Charbel Mello, Benjamin Brown, Mick Krever, Tamara Qiblawi, Sarah El Sirgany, Lucas Lillieholm and Kathleen Magramo contributed reporting.