Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it launched rocket targeting Mossad base near Tel Aviv By Reuters

DUBAI (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday it launched a rocket targeting Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, which it says was responsible for assassinating its leaders and blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies used by the group, in a new escalation.

Warning sirens sounded in Israel’s economic capital Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defence systems after it was detected crossing from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

There were no reports of damage or casualties and the 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.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at Israel in recent days as months of conflict across the border with southern Lebanon has intensified sharply.

The Israeli military has been conducting its heaviest air strikes of the war this week, targeting Hezbollah leaders and hitting hundreds of targets deep inside Lebanon that have killed more than 500 people and wounded more than 1,800.

On Tuesday, a strike in Beirut killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Qubaisi, who headed the group’s missile and rocket force.