Rocket sirens were sounded across Tel Aviv this morning as the Israeli military said it intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon.
This is the first time Hezbollah has targeted Tel Aviv in central Israel since it began launching attacks on the north of Israel late last year following the 7 October Hamas attack and Benjamin Netanyahu’s retaliatory war on Gaza.
Mossad targeted
Hezbollah’s war media announced that “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, the Islamic Resistance launched a “Qader 1″ ballistic missile on Wednesday morning, 9/25/2024, at 6:30, targeting the Mossad headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, which is the headquarters responsible for assassinating leaders and blowing up pagers and wireless devices.”
Israel’s two-day bombardment of southern Lebanon has killed more than 560 people, the majority of them civilians, Lebanon’s health minister said. He described the attacks as “carnage”, which has forced tens of thousands of people to flee southern parts of the country.
Hezbollah urged Iran in recent days to launch an attack against Israel as fighting between the Lebanese militant group and the Israeli military dramatically escalated, but Iran has so far refrained, two Israeli officials and one Western diplomat told Axios.
Iran has been threatening for months to retaliate against Israeli assassination of Hamas leader , but the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera during his trip to New York :
“We are the ones who will determine the time frame for responding to the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, and Israel cannot do whatever it wants,” considering that “the type, location and timing of our response are matters that we should not announce.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to gain political life through the current crisis,” noting that “Israel will not be harmed by the expansion of the war because it is supported by those who hold false humanitarian values.” He explained that “we do not seek battle with any party, and we are committed to the nuclear agreement that we signed and adhered to.”
He explained that “the weapons and missiles that we have developed are for self-defense in the event that we are attacked by Israel.” ” He added that “the Islamic countries must show a coordinated response because Israel will do in Lebanon what it did in Gaza,” considering that “Israel was unable to achieve its goals in Gaza and was unable to destroy Hamas, and the only goal that Israel achieved was to destroy an entire city and prevent the arrival of humanitarian supplies.”
The Israeli army , meanwhile renewed its “calls on the residents of the villages of southern Lebanon not to return to their homes until further notice due to the ongoing raids.” This comes as the Israeli bombardment of southern Lebanon and the Bekaa continues, and after the start of a large-scale Israeli air aggression that the Israeli army called “Arrows of the North” on Monday, which included intensive raids on the south and the Bekaa, resulting in the deaths of hundreds , including 50 children and 94 women, and 1,835 wounded.
New wave of attacks:
Channel 12 of Israel reported that “the Israeli Air Force has begun a new wave of attacks in Lebanon.”
Lebanese website Al Nashra reported the Israeli raids targeted the towns of Arzun, Tulin, Majdal Silm, Al-Sawana, Al-Hawsh, Al-Naqoura and Al-Qalila in southern Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes also carried out a raid this morning on a house in the town of Al-Numayriyeh, which led to its complete destruction and the miraculous escape of the family living there, Al Nashra reported
Netanyahu delays UN trip
Walla website reported that “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to postpone his trip to New York and invited ministers and leaders of the military establishment for security consultations.”
Israeli economy suffering
The Economist magazine indicated that “the nightmare scenario for the Israeli economy is a comprehensive war with Hezbollah,” noting that “economic growth will be severely damaged, perhaps more than the October 7 strike, and military expenditures will rise significantly.”
Haaretz newspaper quoted the security establishment’s assessments that “Hezbollah has capabilities that threaten Israel’s maritime arena and economic waters, and there are security officials who criticize the decision of the military and political leadership to artificially separate the northern and southern fronts.”
Ya Libnan/ News agencies
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