DEAFENING BOOM
Moment huge blast erupts in Beirut live on Sky News amid Israeli warplane blitz ‘timed to rock Hezbollah chief’s speech’
The deafening boom sent jittery Hezbollah troops diving for cover for a third consecutive day
THIS is the shocking moment a huge blast was heard in Beirut live on Sky News as an Israeli warplane sparked a sonic boom during a speech by Hezbollah kingpin Nasrallah.
Nasrallah issued a call to arms after two days of pager and walkie-talkie hack attacks left 37 dead, 3,600 maimed and wounded and left his fighting force in chaos.
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But his angry rant was interrupted in Lebanese capital Beirut today by the roar of Israeli fighters which triggered a mischievously timed sonic boom.
Sky's foreign correspondent John Sparks was reporting on the speech live when a large blast was heard and sonic booms shook Beirut.
Sparks said there was a "very loud sound" as IDF jets flew low over the capital - and said he could hear screams.
The noise was so loud it sent birds flying in panic as people rushed to open their windows to avoid the glass shattering.
Nasrallah's shellshocked followers had been banned from gathering in large numbers to hear his address amid fears of a third wave of deadly attacks.
And the deafening boom - caused by an Israeli jet passing through the sound barrier - sent jittery Hezbollah troops diving for cover for a third consecutive day.
Bearded Nasrallah branded Israel’s campaign “a declaration of war" in the recorded address beamed across the nation at 5pm local time.
He went on: "We have received a very hard hit, but this is the state of war.
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"Through this experience and its lessons, we will be stronger and more powerful.
“What can we call this kind of criminal act - is it criminal operation, genocide, a massacre? You can call it what you want.
“In one minute the Israelis wanted to kill 5000 people in two minutes.”
The sonic boom was heard on live TV broadcasts yesterday 24 hours after the second wave of Israeli booby trap blasts rocked the city.
Israel on brink of WAR with Hezbollah as Iran vows revenge for pager blitz
Defence analyst Paul Beaver told The Sun: “This is yet another example of Israel’s psychological warfare - the timing of the boom was no coincidence.
“Everything they are doing now is calculated to unsettle and destabilise their enemy and it seems to be working.”
Nasrallah said bigger losses had been avoided because some pagers and walkie-talkies had not been sent to his men while others had not been switched on, thanks to “god’s mercy.”
But the humiliated terror master also admitted “big insecurity” in his own organisation had allowed his hated enemy to pull off the unprecedented coup.
Vowing revenge he added: “We win one day we lose another and the same is true of the enemy.
“Tuesday and Wednesday for us were very heavy and bloody days bloody but, with the help of Allah, we will overcome this.
“It is a very big hit but it will not make us fall down and will not make us fail.”
Nasrallah, crucially, vowed there would be no let up in the cross border attacks which have driven 70-80,000 Israelis from their homes in the north.
He crowed about his “strategic achievements” after attacking Israel’s northern flank daily since the day after the October 7 attacks by his Hamas allies in Gaza killed 1,200.
Nasrallah went on to vow that the Lebanese front "will not stop until the war on Gaza ends".
Israeli Defence Forces’ crack 98th Division is being redeployed to northern Israel after fighting for months in Gaza in a move seen as a prelude to an invasion of Lebanon.
The division is made up of Israel's most battle-hardened combat troops and commandos specialising in taking and holding ground.
Experts say their arrival is the clearest sign yet that PM Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon could be under way.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant declared the start of a "new phase" of war on Wednesday and praised the work of Israeli security agents as "very impressive" after IDF troops began moving north.
Analysts now fear Israel could be setting the groundwork for an invasion of Lebanon as it seeks to defeat Hezbollah.
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Where did the pagers come from?
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
Iranian proxy Hezbollah ordered the pagers months ago but never thought the quaint piece of tech could be tampered with.
Hezbollah shifted to pagers after the group's leader told members to stop using phones in February over fears they could be tracked by Israeli spies.
A senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which were brought into the country in the spring.
But Gold Apollo told media in Taipei today the specific order was manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT in Budapest.
Gold Apollo boss Hsu Ching-kuang said BAC asked to manufacture their own pagers with the company's trademark and they were paid from a mystery Middle Eastern bank account, .
BAC Consulting chief executive Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono confirmed to media that her company worked with Gold Apollo.
But said, “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate."
At some point during the manufacture, the devices were modified by Israel's spy service with a small amount of explosive.
The AR-924 pager is described as being “rugged” and contains a rechargeable lithium battery with 85 days of battery life.
Their longevity would be important in Lebanon which has suffered major power outages.
Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies and harder for Israel to hack digitally.
The affected pagers were only delivered to Hezbollah recently, but other associates of the group were also injured, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon.
