Beirut/Jerusalem, Sep 25 (EFE).- A ballistic missile fired at Tel Aviv by Hezbollah as it targeted Israeli intelligence service Mossad on Wednesday was intercepted by Israel’s air defense system.
“The Islamic Resistance launched on Wednesday morning, 9/25/2024, at 6:30 a.m., a ‘Qader 1’ ballistic missile targeting the Mossad headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv,” the group said in a statement.
The Qader type cruise missiles are medium-range and developed by Iran.
Hezbollah added that the headquarters is “responsible for assassinating leaders and blowing up pagers and wireless devices” of its members in Lebanon last week, killing 42 people and injuring almost 3,000.
The Israeli army said it had intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched from Lebanon towards the center of the country, instead of the usual northern zone, which set off alarms in Tel Aviv and nearby areas.
The missile “was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array,” the military said, while its spokesman for the international press, Nadav Shoshani, reported that it had been intercepted by the David’s Sling medium-to-long-range defense system.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV station said that with the launch on Wednesday, the group “introduced ballistic missiles into the equation.”
In its statement, the group said the missile launch was “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, and in defense of Lebanon and its people.”
Despite the rapid escalation since last week and the unprecedented bombing campaign that Israel has launched against Lebanon, Hezbollah has been responding mainly with rocket barrages, although it did increase its range of action and raised the level of its actions to some extent.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the president will hold consultations with security authorities on Wednesday before traveling to New York Thursday to give his speech at the United Nations, from where he will return on Saturday. EFE
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