Panic in Beirut as Israel warplanes break sound barrier three times

Security forces and ambulances arrived at the site after Israel launched an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb of the Dahieh area, amid escalating tensions with Hezbollah on July 30, 2024 [Houssam Shbaro – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier three times over Beirut in less than 30 minutes on Tuesday, leading to loud booms that sent people in the city running for cover just ahead of a speech by the head of the powerful group, Hezbollah, Reuters reports.

Israeli warplanes flew low over the Lebanese capital, with witnesses saying they could see the planes with the naked eye. The booms were the loudest heard in Beirut in years.

One Reuters reporter saw people at a cafe in Beirut’s Badaro district scatter as the sound reverberated through the city.

Hezbollah chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was set to begin an address at around 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) to mark one week since the killing of the Lebanese armed group’s top military Commander, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Hezbollah has promised to respond to the killing, which came just hours before the assassination of Hamas leader, Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran in an operation blamed on Israel but which Israel has not confirmed or denied undertaking.

The twin killings have pushed the region to the brink of war, with Iran also vowing a painful response.

READ: 17 injured as Hezbollah launches ‘swarm’ of rockets into northern Israel

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