Hezbollah said it has fired a ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel's Mossad spy agency near Tel Aviv, saying recent attacks against the militant group were planned there.
It is the first time the group says it has struck with a ballistic missile since its nearly year-long battle with Israel began after Hamas carried out an attack on October 7.
The Israeli military said it had intercepted a rocket fired from Lebanon.
"The Islamic Resistance fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile at 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) targeting Mossad headquarters on the outskirts of Tel Aviv," Hezbollah said in a statement.
"This headquarters is responsible for killing leaders and blowing up pagers and wireless devices," it added, referring to last week's attacks that killed dozens of people in Lebanon, including a senior commander.
It also said the strike was carried out in support of the people of Gaza and "in defence of Lebanon and its people".
The Israeli military said that "for the first time in history" a rocket fired by Hezbollah had reached the Tel Aviv area and was intercepted by the Israeli defence system.
"For the first time in history, a Hezbollah rocket reached the Tel Aviv area. It was intercepted by the Israeli army," an army spokesman said.
In recent days, the focus of Israel's firepower has shifted sharply from Gaza to Lebanon.
The Lebanese health ministry reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 558 people on Monday, the deadliest day of violence in the country since the 1975-90 civil war. | BGNES
