Hezbollah said Wednesday it had fired a ballistic missile targeting Israeli spy agency Mossad's headquarters near Tel Aviv as its fighters prepare for a possible ground war with the IDF in Lebanon.
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 October 7 attack.
'The Islamic Resistance launched a 'Qader 1' ballistic missile at 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Wednesday, 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,' it added, referring to attacks last week that killed scores in Lebanon, including a top commander.
The Iranian-made Qader is a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile with multiple types and payloads.
It can carry an explosive payload of up to 800kg (1,760 pounds), according to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Iranian officials have described the liquid-fuelled missile as having a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles).
Israel said its air defences had shot down a Hezbollah missile after sirens sounded in Tel Aviv. No casualties were reported.
Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the missile had a 'heavy warhead' but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah.
The ballistic missile launch comes hours after Israel said it had killed Ibrahim Qubaisi - another top Hezbollah commander and director of the group's missile and rocket unit - in a strike on Beirut on Tuesday.
Israel this morning continued its campaign of near-round-the-clock strikes on Hezbollah targets across southern and eastern Lebanon, which have killed 569 people and wounded more than 1,800 since Monday, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan condemned Israel's 'aggression' against Lebanon this morning, warning that it is 'pushing the region towards all-out war'.
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 told Israeli troops.
Now fears are growing that the IDF could launch an armed incursion across the border in an attempt to create a 'buffer zone' by forcing Hezbollah fighters further north of the border.
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