Hezbollah announced Wednesday that it launched a ballistic missile at Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, accusing the spy agency of assassinating its leaders and sabotaging its communication devices.
The move marked a new escalation in the conflict and triggered warning sirens in Israel's economic capital. The surface-to-surface missile, however, was reportedly intercepted by air defense 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 defense instructions for central Israel.
Warning sirens also sounded in other areas of central Israel, including the city of Netanya, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.
Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said he could not confirm what Hezbollah's target was when it fired the missile from a village in Lebanon.
"The result was a heavy missile, going towards Tel Aviv, toward civilian areas in Tel Aviv. The Mossad headquarters is not in that area," he said.
The Israeli military has been carrying out its heaviest airstrikes in a year of conflict this week, targeting leaders of the Iran-backed Hezbollah and hitting hundreds of sites deep inside Lebanon.
The hostilities started after Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. Hezbollah said it was targeting Israel because of its brutal military campaign in the Palestinian territory.
Israel's focus has now turned to its northern frontier and southern Lebanon, already the scene of near-daily exchanges of fire for months.
There was no let-up on Wednesday. Israel said its warplanes were currently carrying out extensive strikes in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at Israel in recent days.
Death toll climbs
Hezbollah has blamed Mossad for the recent assassination of its leaders.
It has also accused the spy agency of carrying out an operation last week in which the communications devices of its members were booby-trapped and exploded, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000 in the worst security breach in its history.
Since Monday morning, the Israeli offensive has killed 569 people, including 50 children and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.
Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said. In Beirut, thousands of people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
Also Wednesday, the Israeli military said a drone crossing into Israeli territory from Syria was intercepted by fighter jets south of the Sea of Galilee.
The Islamic Resistance armed groups in Iraq said in a statement they had attacked a target in the occupied Golan Heights via a drone.
Israel military leaders have said they are prepared for a range of options as it battles Hezbollah, which is more sophisticated, disciplined and experienced than Hamas. It was created by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards to counter an Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
Hezbollah has proven resilient over its decadeslong hostilities with Israel, recovering from heavy blows and defying superior firepower. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that killing important Hezbollah figures would not bring it to its knees.
Israeli troops have been training for months for a possible ground operation inside Lebanon aimed at securing its northern border and enabling thousands of Israeli residents who fled for their safety to return to their communities, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government's top war priorities.
Israel's close ally the United States is sticking by it despite its concerns about mass civilian casualties. While Arab states have condemned Israel's military campaigns, they have not taken strong steps to force it to rein in the most powerful military in the Middle East.
On Tuesday, a strike in Beirut killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Kobeisi, who headed the group's missile and rocket force.
Lebanon at brink
The new offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that a conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is widening across the Middle East.
The U.N. Security Council said it would meet Wednesday to discuss the conflict.
"Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world – cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Hezbollah and would continue.
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.