Israeli fighter jets flew low over the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, producing a series of sound bursts that caused window panes to shake across the city as the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah was scheduled to give a speech.
The loud explosions sent people rushing to open their windows to avoid breaking glass or standing on their balconies to catch a glimpse of the planes flying overhead. There was no comment from the Israeli military.
In the capital’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, members and supporters of the Lebanese armed group gathered to watch a televised speech by their leader to mark the one-week anniversary of Israel’s killing of a senior military commander.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said at the beginning of his speech that the sound blast was intended to provoke those gathered at the memorial.
The attack that killed commander Fuad Shukr was the second time Israel had struck the southern suburbs during the 10-month-long war between Hezbollah and Israeli forces that runs parallel to the Gaza war.
Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had sent a swarm of attack drones against two military sites near Acre in northern Israel and also attacked an Israeli military vehicle at another location.
The Israeli military said several enemy drones coming from Lebanon had been identified, one of which was intercepted.
Israeli medical officials said seven people were admitted to a hospital south of the coastal city of Nahariya, one of them in critical condition.
The Israeli military said a preliminary investigation showed the injuries were caused by an interceptor that “missed its target and fell to the ground, injuring several civilians.” It said the incident was still under review.
Reuters journalists saw the site of the accident near a bus stop on the main road outside Nahariya.
The Israeli military said in a statement that sirens had sounded around Acre but that it turned out to be a false alarm. It said its air force attacked two Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
Fears are growing that the Middle East could slide toward all-out war after Hezbollah vowed to avenge Shukr’s killing, and Iran vowed to respond to the assassination of the head of the Palestinian group Hamas in Tehran last week.
A Hezbollah source told Reuters that “there has not yet been a reaction to the killing of commander Fuad Shukr”.
Earlier on Tuesday, medics and a security source said four Hezbollah fighters were killed in an attack on a house in the Lebanese town of Mefdoun, about 30 km (19 miles) north of the border.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
