Hezbollah Targets Mossad Headquarters Near Tel Aviv as Part of Rocket Barrage Aimed at Israel
The attacks were ‘in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip … and in defense of Lebanon and its people.’
Hezbollah militants targeted Israel’s Mossad spy agency headquarters in a rocket attack on Wednesday as airstrikes into Lebanon have intensified.
A single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems after it was detected crossing from a Lebanese village, according to a report from Reuters. The Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement that they were targeting Mossad’s headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip … and in defense of Lebanon and its people.”
Israeli military officials say they are unable to confirm Hezbollah’s target.
“The result was a heavy missile, going towards Tel Aviv, towards civilian areas in Tel Aviv. The Mossad headquarters is not in that area,” Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said to the news agency.
Warning sirens were sounded in Israel’s economic capital and other areas, including Netanya. There were no reports of any damage or casualties.
Hezbollah has blamed Mossad for the recent assignation of its leaders and for carrying out a series of attacks in which their communication devices were booby-trapped to cause explosions. The pair of attacks killed nearly 40 people and wounded about 3,000. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied their role. Their military forces have been conducting a barrage of airstrikes against the militant group, targeting hundreds of sites within Lebanon.
On Wednesday, three people were killed during a strike on the Shi’ite town of Maaysrah in the Christian-majority Keserwan region of Lebanon. Health ministry officials say it was the first time the area has been struck since Israel has expanded their strikes.
Hezbollah has been retaliating with rocket attacks of their own. The Galilee region in northern Israel was hit with a barrage of missiles on Wednesday morning, including one salvo of 40 rockets, Israeli authorities said. Many were intercepted before reaching their target, while others struck open and populated areas, including the town of Safed, where an assisted living facility was hit with no injuries.