Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the country’s commercial heartlands and marked a new escalatory step in the conflict between the two sides.

Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon at the commercial capital of Tel Aviv early Wednesday morning, as the fighting between the parties continued to escalate.Alerts sent residents scrambling into shelters as the missile approached.