Israel's military says that, for the "first time ever," a missile fired by Hezbollah reached the Tel Aviv area before being intercepted by its defence system.
"It is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile reached Tel Aviv area. It was intercepted by IDF," a military spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Hezbollah said that it had fired a ballistic missile targeting Israeli spy agency Mossad's headquarters near Tel Aviv, saying recent attacks on the militant group had been planned there.
It is the first time the group has claimed a ballistic missile strike during its nearly year-long battle with Israel.
Earlier in the day, Israel's military had said it intercepted a missile fired from Lebanon after sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
"Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, one surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted," a military spokesman said.
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, towards civilian areas in Tel Aviv. The Mossad headquarters is not in that area," he said.
"Hezbollah is definitely trying to escalate the situation … this is just part of it," Lieutenant Colonel Shoshani said.
"They are … trying to terrorise more and more people."
There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties and the military said there was no change to civil defence instructions.
Hezbollah said in a statement that the Islamic Resistance coalition group, of which it is a part, launched the Qader 1 ballistic missile to target the Mossad headquarters in the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
"This headquarters is responsible for the assassination of leaders and the explosion of pagers and wireless devices," it added, referring to attacks last week that killed scores in Lebanon including a top Hezbollah commander.
The Islamic Resistance armed groups in Iraq said in a statement they had attacked a target in the occupied Golan Heights via a drone.
The IDF later said that it struck the launcher from which the missile was fired in the Nafakhiyeh area of south Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes also carried out a series of strikes during the night in Lebanese territory, it said.
"As part of the strikes, the IAF [air force] struck terrorists operating within terrorist infrastructure, weapons storage facilities, launchers and additional Hezbollah terrorist targets," it added.
The official National News Agency said "enemy warplanes have launched strikes" on several areas in southern Lebanon since 5am, local time.
"The air aggression continued overnight," it added.
It also reported that "enemy warplanes and drones" targeted multiple locations the Baalbek area in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after midnight.
A death toll from the strikes has not yet been announced.
The IDF said on Wednesday its fighter jets also intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that crossed from Syria.
"The UAV was intercepted … south of the Sea of Galilee. No damage or injuries were reported," it said.
Top Hezbollah commander killed in Beirut strikes
Israel's military said it killed a top Hezbollah commander as part of a two-day aerial barrage that has left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict, as Lebanon says only the Unites States can help end the fighting.
The IDF said the air strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, who it said was the commander of Hezbollah's missile and rocket force.
Hezbollah later confirmed the claim.
Lebanon's Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that its senior commander was killed in an Israeli strike, describing him as a leading figure in the Iran-backed group's rocket division.
Israel's offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told state media.
He said the "vast majority, if not all" were unarmed civilians in their homes.
With the two sides on the brink of all-out war, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel, targeting an explosives factory and sending families into bomb shelters.
Families that fled southern Lebanon flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria.
Israel said late on Tuesday that fighter jets carried out "extensive strikes" on Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa region to the north.
Asked about the duration of Israel's operations in Lebanon, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a news conference that it aims to keep them "as short as possible, that's why we're attacking with great force. At the same time, we must be prepared for it to take longer."
Suspected Israeli missiles were also launched at the Syrian port city of Tartous and were intercepted by Syrian air defences, Syrian army sources said.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the report.
UN Security Council to discuss escalating conflict
The UN Security Council said it would meet on Wednesday to discuss the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel is shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
"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," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
In what was likely his final address to the UN General Assembly, US President Joe Biden sought to calm Mideast tensions.
"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest, even if a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," he told the General Assembly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed his departure for the UN General Assembly in New York, his office said on Wednesday.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu will leave for his speech at the UN tomorrow [Thursday], instead of tonight, and will return on Saturday night," his office said.
"During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon."
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan condemned Israel's "aggression" against Lebanon on Wednesday, warning that it was "pushing the region towards all-out war".
The ministers said that stopping the "dangerous escalation under way in the region … begins by halting Israel's aggression in Gaza", in a joint statement issued after a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement its allies "cannot stand alone".
"We must not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza at the hands of Israel," he said.
Mr Netanyahu defied international calls for restraint, vowing on Tuesday to keep up its campaign against Hezbollah.
"We will continue to hit Hezbollah … the one who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his home will not have a home," he said.
'Thousands' of Australians in Lebanon should leave, Senator Wong says
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong told 7.30 that the Australian government "doesn't track" the number of Australian citizens and permanent residents who leave the country, but said she knew "there are thousands of Australians and permanent residents living in Lebanon".
"I have been calling for months now for people to both not go to Lebanon, but also if you are there to leave," Senator Wong said on the program.
"We would continue to say to people, if you are able to leave the country by whatever means, commercial means available, even if it's not to your preferred destination, we would urge people to leave," she said.
"Obviously, we are alongside others in the international community, urging there be no further regional escalation, but we are very deeply concerned about the potential loss of civilian life."
"We've already seen civilian casualties, and we know about the risk of escalation. This is why, as I said, we've been urging people to leave for some time."
Senator Wong said a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was "necessary" for halting further escalation in Lebanon.
"We see what has happened in Gaza. We see the civilian toll. We see that tens of thousands of civilians have been killed," she said.
"We see how many children have been lost. So we would continue to back in the UN Security Council's resolution, it's called for a ceasefire."
"We will continue to urge all parties, as President Biden did today, to agree to that ceasefire in terms of further regional escalation."
UK sends troops to Cyprus
Britain is moving troops to Cyprus to help its nationals leave Lebanon, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah was pushing the region towards the brink.
The government said in a statement late on Tuesday that 700 troops would travel to Cyprus, bolstering its presence in the area where it already has two Royal Navy ships, aircraft and transport helicopters.
"Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear: British nationals should leave now," said Defence Secretary John Healey.
"Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate."
Lebanon's foreign minister says Biden's address 'not strong enough' as US is key
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Mr Biden's address was "not strong, not promising" and the US was the only country "that can really make a difference in the Middle East."
The United States "is the key … to our salvation," he told senior fellow Aaron David Miller at an event in New York City hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"We've had enough war."
Washington is Israel's longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.
He said Lebanon's prime minister hoped to meet with US officials over the next two days.
Last few days were 'Hezbollah's October 7', expert says
Speaking to ABC News Channel on Wednesday, Mr Miller said that the last few days was "Hezbollah's October 7," at least from an intelligence perspective.
"It was an intelligence failure and it was an operational failure," he said, referring to the recent bombing campaign carried out by the Israeli military, as well as the exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.
"The degrading of their comm's system as well as the elimination of their veteran key senior [commander] ... has positioned Hezbollah as incapable and in a purely defensive mode," he said.
"They are simply incapable of coordinating any air and ground action against the Israel, which leaves the Israelis with clear escalation dominance."
Half a million displaced in Lebanon, expected to remain so for several months
The foreign minister said half a million people were estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon.
Nour Hamad, a 22-year-old student in the Lebanese city of Baalbek, described living "in a state of terror" all week.
"We spent four or five days without sleep, not knowing if we will wake up in the morning," she said.
"The sound of the bombardment is very frightening, everyone's afraid. The children are afraid, and the grown-ups are afraid too," she said.
Outside a residential apartment block in Lebanon's capital Beirut, small trucks packed with mattresses and bags of luggage, were banked up on the curb.
The complex was filling up with newly displaced families, like Hassan and his wife and children.
The family from Ghazieh, in Lebanon's south-west, sat in gridlock traffic for seven hours while fleeing to Beirut.
Hassan said he heard continuous bombardment around his home and workplace before he took his family, including a three-month-old baby, and hopped in their car to evacuate north.
He's now prepared to be displaced from his home for several months.
"We felt that the situation is going to be a long situation, not just like 15 or 20 days, so now we are searching for an apartment to stay in," he said.
"It's hard to leave your work, your home, and sit here in a place where you don't belong."
Despite the uncertainty of his future, he said he backs Hezbollah's attacks on Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
"Whatever happens, we are convinced that we are doing the right thing for the people that are oppressed in Palestine," he said.
ABC/Wires
