Hezbollah Fires Missile At Tel Aviv Targeting Mossad (Worthy News Focus)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW YORK/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Hezbollah confirmed it fired “a ballistic missile” toward the Tel Aviv area Wednesday, targeting the headquarters of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they intercepted the rocket.
The Iran-backed Islamic group announced that Wednesday’s strike was “in retaliation” for the explosion of pagers across Lebanon last week that killed dozens and injured thousands.
Yet the IDF said its surface-to-surface missile system eliminated the threat as parts of Tel Aviv woke up to sirens.
It came after Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah sites in Lebanon killed at least 569 people since Monday, according to the country’s Health Ministry, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
It did not specify how many combatants were among those killed.
The United Nations Security Council was expected to meet Wednesday to discuss the escalating conflict.
Yet while the U.N. was weighing its options, the IDF continued its aerial bombardment of southern Lebanon and the eastern area of Bekaa on Wednesday morning. The IDF said its warplanes attacked more than 100 targets tied to Hezbollah.
ROCKET LAUNCHER
The Israeli air force struck a rocket launcher in the area of Nafakhiyeh, south Lebanon, in response to the “launch of a Hezbollah surface-to-surface missile toward central Israel,” the IDF said in a separate operational update.
It also confirmed that “approximately 40 projectiles” crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory Wednesday, as sirens sounded in the upper Galilee area.
At least one projectile hit an “assisted-living facility in the area of Safed,” the IDF said, although no injuries were reported.
It blamed Hezbollah and warned it would continue to strike its assets and weapons storage facilities in Lebanon.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Lebanese citizens in televised remarks that Israel is “not at war with the people of Lebanon.”
However, he said civilians should leave sites where Hezbollah stores weapons, including in homes. It has led to a massive exodus of tens of thousands of people, including families with children, rushing to safety.
Wednesday’s hostilities came after U.S. President Joe Biden urged Israel and Hezbollah to step away from the prospect of all-out war in his last speech before the United Nations General Assembly.
‘SOLUTION POSSIBLE’
“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. The situation has escalated,” the outgoing president said.
Yet, “A solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security and to allow the residents of both countries to return to their homes,” he added.
Biden highlighted the importance of a truce between Israel’s government and Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah.
However, Hezbollah warned it would keep firing rockets into Israel until a cease-fire is reached between both parties in Gaza.
“Now is the time for the parties to finalize the terms” of a cease-fire, countered Biden in his speech during the U.N. General Assembly. “Bring the hostages home, secure security for Israel and Gaza, free of Hamas’s grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this war.”
Yet as footage emerged of a cloud of smoke erupting during an Israeli airstrike on the village of Sujud in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, his calls for peace seemed illusive.
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