Lebanese media reported Wednesday morning new Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, while sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and central Israeli regions. Al Arabiya and Al Hadath correspondents reported that Hezbollah launched, for the first time, a ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed his trip to New York from Wednesday evening to Thursday.
Before launching an intense barrage of rockets at southern Haifa and the meadows, most of which were intercepted, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the ballistic missile fired at Tel Aviv. The group confirmed in a statement that the missile, “Qadir 1,” was aimed at the Mossad headquarters, which is responsible for assassinating leaders and for the bombings of the Bigears and wireless devices. The Israeli military then published photos showing the targeting of the missile launch platform aimed at Tel Aviv.
Al Arabiya and Al Hadath correspondents also reported that a missile was aimed at the Jaliluot military base in central Israel and was intercepted by the “David’s Sling” system. Prior to this, Israeli media reported that air defense systems intercepted missiles over Tel Aviv without reporting any damages or injuries.
This comes as Israel conducted airstrikes on southern Lebanon for the third consecutive day on Wednesday. An Al Arabiya correspondent reported that a series of morning raids shook at least 14 villages in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese News Agency reported that 3 Israeli raids rocked the outskirts of the town of Arnon in the south of the country.
Before that, the Lebanese official news agency reported that Israeli warplanes had been conducting airstrikes on various areas in southern Lebanon since 5 am (02:00 GMT), confirming that the raids did not cease overnight and resulted in injuries, although no specific casualty figures were provided.
The Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group has launched hundreds of rockets and shells at Israel in recent days as the months-long cross-border conflict escalated.
The Israeli military executed its most intense airstrikes of the war this week, targeting Hezbollah leaders and striking hundreds of targets deep within Lebanon, resulting in about 570 deaths and over 1800 injuries.
Moreover, the UN Security Council convened an emergency session on Lebanon today, Wednesday, at France’s request, amid significant regional escalations.
An informed source from within the Security Council reported that the meeting, attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, took place amidst significant escalations in the region between the Israeli military and Lebanese Hezbollah. The Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, announced an expansion of attacks on military sites and missile warehouses and Hezbollah leaders across Lebanon.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the casualty toll in Lebanon due to the attacks reached about 570 dead and more than 1800 injured. This marks the highest single-day death toll Lebanon has seen since the end of the civil war that began in 1975 and ended in 1990.
Thousands have fled from southern Lebanon, causing a major disruption on the main highway leading to Beirut, in the largest displacement since the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah.
