Hezbollah missile strikes Tel Aviv for the first time, targeting Mossad HQ, as footage shows the launcher being destroyed

Watch as Israel blew up the rocket using its high-tech interception system named David’s Sling

Hezbollah today fired a ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv for the first time ever as the brutal war in the Middle East intensifies.

The Lebanese group’s rocket was headed to the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency in a revenge for the pager and walkie-talkie attacks, before being swiftly destroyed by the IDF.

The IDF claims to have then quickly blown up the launcher the rocket was sent from, releasing black and white airstrike footage of the swift retaliation.

A second clip by the military also showed an explosion on a Hezbollah weapons storage facility and another strike on the group’s terorrist infrastructure in the Tebnine area.

Hezbollah’s attempt on the Mossad HQ marks the first time during the war that Tel Aviv was targeted .

An Israeli army spokesman told AFP that Wednesday morning’s attack "is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile reached the Tel Aviv area".

Tel Aviv and its surrounding neighbourhoods make up Israel’s most populous urban area.

But the city has been hit recently by rockets sent by another Iranian proxy - the Houthis.

Warning sirens could be heard across the Israeli city overnight as the surface-to-surface rocket was blown up by an air defence system.

The attempted strike was in response to last week’s pager and walkie-talkie sabotage attacks by the spooks, Hezbollah said.

The Times of Israel reports the terror group shot a Qadar 1 ballistic missile at the HQ near the country’s capital.

Israel blew up the rocket using its high-tech interception system named David’s Sling - a medium-range ballistic missile designed to intercept short-range missiles.

Israel destroyed the missile with an interception rocket known as ’David’s sling’Credit: X

People stand by an impact crater next to a destroyed warehouse at the site of an Israeli air strike in Jiyeh on WednesdayCredit: AFP

The warehouse was said to belong to Hezbollah terroristsCredit: AFP

The IDF said in a statement: "In a quick closing of the circle, fighter jets of the Air Force attacked the launcher from which the launch of the surface-to-surface missile was detected that was launched towards the Gush Dan area this morning in the Nafjah area in Lebanon."

The launcher was hit in southern Lebanon’s Nafakhiyeh, according to the IDF. 

Warning sirens also sounded in other areas of central Israel, including the city of Netanya.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hezbollah had fired at least 300 rockets at northern Israel yesterday.

It comes after the IDF blitzed 1,600 targets in Lebanon on Monday and continued with a heavy barrage of strikes on Tuesday.

Hundreds have been killed and reports claim half a million Lebanese have been displaced from their homes. 

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Brits in Lebanon to leave immediately as 700 UK troops have been scrambled to help with any mass evacuation.

The PM said the UK is ramping up contingency plans, adding:  "It is important that we’ve been really, really clear: now is the time to leave."

More Brit troops will now be deployed to Cyprus in case a full-scale evacuation of Lebanon is ordered.

Israel’s David’s Sling system intercepted a missileCredit: Reuters

An Israeli jet flies over northern Israel as the country hammers Lebanon with airstrikesCredit: Reuters

Mossad’s double surprise sabotage strike using pagers and walkie-talkies hit Hezbollah on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. 

The group has been left in chaos as it lost a communication method and dozens of Lebanese died and thousands were injured.

Israel has also launched another elaborate tech blitz in Lebanon with dropped leaflets containing a "dangerous barcode", Hezbollah claims.

The Israeli Defence Force has now dropped thousands of leaflets into Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley as it pummels the country with airstrikes.

Each of the leaflets contains a QR code that says it will take locals to a safe area - but Hezbollah doesn’t believe the cipher. 

Israel warned civilians through hacked radio broadcasts, text messages, and phone calls about the strikes - giving them two hours to get away from Iran’s proxy.

Ten of thousands of residents fled from the south in desperate search of shelter as Israel pounded targets with airstrikes.

The main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in a staggering mass exodus.

Sophia Martinez