BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes flew low over the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Tuesday, setting off a series of sonic booms that rattled windows and sent residents into a state of alarm minutes before Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was set to give a televised address.
The loud blasts prompted many Beirut residents to open their windows to prevent them from shattering or to step onto their balconies to catch a glimpse of the jets overhead.
In the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, members and supporters had gathered to listen to Nasrallah’s speech, marking the one-week anniversary of the killing of senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr by an Israeli strike. Nasrallah said that the sonic booms were meant to provoke those assembled for the memorial.
The strike on Shukr was the second Israeli attack on the southern suburbs in the past ten months of hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah launched a swarm of attack drones targeting two military sites near Acre in northern Israel and attacked an Israeli military vehicle in another location. The Israeli military confirmed that it intercepted one of several hostile drones crossing from Lebanon.
Israeli medical officials reported that seven people were hospitalized near Nahariya, with one person in critical condition. The injuries were attributed to an interceptor that missed its target and hit the ground.
Although sirens sounded around Acre, the Israeli military later confirmed it was a false alarm. In retaliation, the Israeli air force struck two Hezbollah facilities in southern Lebanon.
The escalating violence has raised fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East, following Hezbollah’s resolve to avenge Shukr’s killing and Iran’s pledge to respond to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
