The latest announcement comes after months of instability for Beirut's airport as fears grow of a major escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.

A Hezbollah official says walkie-talkies used by the group exploded as part of blasts heard across Beirut.

Lebanon was hit with a fresh wave of exploding telecommunications devices including walkie-talkies a day after 12 people were killed and thousands injured in a series of similar blasts.

The strikes aim to "degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure," the IDF said in a statement.

Israeli jets are carrying out huge sonic booms over the Lebanese capital, Beirut, during a speech by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday, a Reuters witness said. Lebanese residents, already on edge following this week's blasts across the country that the group blamed on Israel,

As the broadcast was aired, deafening sonic booms from Israeli warplanes shook Beirut, a sound that has become common in recent months but has taken on a greater significance as t