"It is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile reached (the) Tel Aviv area. It was intercepted by IDF (the Israeli military)," an army spokesman told AFP.

In a separate briefing, military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said that the firing of the surface-to-surface missile at Tel Aviv was an "escalation" on the part of Hezbollah.

"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."

The military said it struck the launcher which fired the missile in the Nafakhiyeh area of south Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes also carried out a series of strikes during the night on Hezbollah targets 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.