Hezbollah's response to Israeli attacks will be "strong and effective" the Lebanese military group's leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Tuesday. 

Speaking a week after an Israeli airstrike killed the group's most senior military commander, Fuad Shukr, Nasrallah said the militant group would respond. 

"Our response is coming, god willing, alone or with the axis," he said, in a reference to the Iranian-led self-described 'Axis of Resistance' which includes various proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

Just minutes before Nasrallah was due to speak, Israeli warplanes swooped low over the Lebanese capital Beirut, setting off a series of sonic booms that rattled windows across the city. 

Addressing the booms, Nasrallah said they were designed to provoke Hezbollah supporters who had gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs to watch the speech, accusing Israel of being "small-minded" for the display of air might. 

IDF jets regularly penetrate Lebanon's airspace given the Lebanese Air Force's lack of modern fighter jets and air defense to guard against such intrusions. 

'Be prepared for any scenario'

Just hours after Hezbollah launched a swarm of drones into northern Israel, Nasrallah said residents in the northern city of Haifa should "be prepared for any scenario." 

"Whatever the consequences, the resistance will not let Israeli attacks pass by," he said. "No one in Lebanon or outside can ask us to deal with Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburbs as any ordinary attack," in reference to last week's airstrike. 

Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah said five of its fighters were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a building in the southern village of Mayfadoun. It said it responded by firing multiple drones and rockets, with Israeli media reporting several impact sites as deep as 20 kilometers below the country's northern border. 

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Israel's Defence Force said it responded to the Hezbollah attacks by using artillery to hit launch sites in Lebanon. 

Tensions remain high across the Middle East, as Tehran and its proxies warn they will respond to both the airstrike in Beirut, and a separate explosion which killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the Tehran blast, Iran believes it was ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu's government and has vowed a response. 

Amid concerns the region could be on the brink of a wider war, a number of countries, including China, the United States, Germany, Canada and Australia, have warned their citizens to leave Lebanon, leading to long lines at Beirut International Airport. 

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