Israel's second city Tel Aviv has been rocked by explosions after terror group Hezbollah launched waves of rockets back across the Lebanese border in the wake of last night's barnstorming Israeli ground invasion.

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.

A top Israeli military official hinted to soldiers of a possible ground invasion as the United States and France drafted a cease-fire proposal to try to stave off a broader conflict.