Israeli warplanes flew low over the Lebanese capital
Beirut, Lebanon:
Israeli warplanes flew over the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, setting off a series of sonic booms that shook windows across the city minutes before the head of Lebanon's Hezbollah was due to deliver a speech.
The loud bangs sent residents scrambling to open windows to prevent shattering glass or to look out from balconies to watch the planes fly overhead. The Israeli military did not comment.
In the southern suburbs of the capital, a Hezbollah stronghold, members and supporters of the Lebanese armed group had gathered to watch a televised address by their leader to mark the first anniversary of Israel's killing of a top military commander.
At the start, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the sonic booms were meant to provoke those gathered for the memorial.
The attack that killed commander Fuad Shukr was the second time Israel has attacked the southern suburbs in 10 months of hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military that have taken place in parallel to the Gaza war.
Hezbollah said earlier on Tuesday it launched a swarm of attack drones at two military sites near Acre in northern Israel and also attacked an Israeli military vehicle elsewhere.
The Israeli military said several hostile drones were identified crossing from Lebanon and one was intercepted.
Israeli medical officials said seven people were evacuated to a hospital south of the coastal city of Nahariya, one of them in critical condition.
The Israeli military said an initial investigation indicated the injuries were caused by an interceptor that “missed the target and crashed into the ground, injuring several civilians.” It added that the incident was still being analyzed.
Reuters journalists saw an impact site near a bus stop on a main road outside Nahariya.
The Israeli military said in a statement that sirens sounded in Acre, but that it turned out to be a false alarm. It added that its air force attacked two Hezbollah facilities in southern Lebanon.
Fears are growing that the Middle East could tip into a full-scale war following promises by Hezbollah to avenge Shukr's killing and by Iran to respond to last week's assassination in Tehran of the head of the Palestinian group Hamas.
A Hezbollah source told Reuters that “the response to the killing of commander Fuad Shukr has not yet arrived.”
Earlier on Tuesday, four Hezbollah fighters were killed in an attack on a house in the Lebanese town of Mayfadoun, nearly 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the border, medics and a security source said.
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