Israeli military says it intercepted missile from Lebanon near Tel Aviv in rare attack

A missile fired from Lebanon was intercepted near Israel’s economic center Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Israel’s military said, in a rare attack far from the front lines of the conflict with Hezbollah.

“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 by the IDF Aerial Defense Array,” the Israeli military said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Since the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas last October, Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones from Lebanon targeting northern Israel.

The missile intercept comes days after Israeli strikes targeting the militant group killed more than 500 people across Lebanon. Monday was the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly two decades.

Hezbollah has not yet commented on the attempted attack on Tel Aviv.

Flights at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport continued as usual, the airport’s spokesperson said.

Sirens were heard Wednesday in the central city of Netanya for the first time since October 7, 2023, according to Israeli authorities.

This is a developing story and will be updated.