Lebanon fires rockets into Israel
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/me...srael.rockets/
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Four rockets struck northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday, wounding two people, Israeli police and emergency medical services said.
The Lebanese Army issued a statement, saying the rockets were launched by "an unknown group" and that the Israeli retaliatory fire inflicted no casualties.
The rockets hit near the city of Nahariya, located about six miles from the Lebanese border, police said. The Israeli military said it returned fire toward the source of the rockets after the attack.
Schools and kindergartens were closed in Nahariya and the nearby town of Shlomi, the Israel Defense Forces reported.
The Israeli military warned civilians in the western Galilee region to stay close to shelters in the aftermath of Thursday's attack. Video Watch CNN's Christiane Amanpour discuss rocket attack »
The report comes as Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, aimed at halting rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory to the south, entered a 13th day.
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Israel fought a similar campaign against the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah in 2006, during which Hezbollah rained rockets on cities in Israeli's north for a month before a cease-fire was reached.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's attack.
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The Lebanese Army's statement also said its troops and the U.N. peacekeeping mission that patrols the border "have taken all necessary measures to protect the population and control the situation."
Hezbollah has kept a tight rein on its forces in southern Lebanon since the cease-fire, however, and a number of Palestinian factions operate in southern Lebanon as well.
BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7817135.stm
Rockets hit Israel from Lebanon
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Rockets have been fired into northern Israel from Lebanon, raising fears the Israeli offensive in Gaza may spread.
Israel's army responded with artillery to a first barrage of at least three rockets. Israeli media later reported a second rocket attack.
The exchanges came as Israel launched 60 air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight, targeting facilities used by the militant Hamas group.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the rocket fire from Lebanon.
Correspondents say this is a dangerous moment in the current conflict.
The rocket attacks from Lebanon have raised concerns about a wider war, says the BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen.
It is is not clear if the rockets were fired by Hezbollah or by one of the armed Palestinian groups that operate in Lebanon.
If Hezbollah mounted the attack there is a grave risk of a very strong Israeli reaction, our correspondent says.
The Palestinians in Lebanon do not have the capacity to fight a war with Israel, but Hezbollah does.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to secure a truce in Gaza continue, with a senior Israeli official due to travel to Cairo to hear details of a ceasefire plan drawn up by Egypt and France.
A Hamas delegation is expected in the Egyptian capital at some stage for parallel "technical" talks, Egyptian diplomats said. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is due to arrive on Friday.
Schools closed
At least three Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel early on Thursday, with some reports putting the number of rocket attacks at five.
One rocket hit the Nahariya area, north of the city of Haifa.
At least two people were slightly wounded and a number of others were suffering from shock, Israeli officials said.
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Reports were coming in of further rocket attacks from Lebanon, but there were no further details.
Schools have been closed and residents told to stay indoors, local officials said.
Israel said it had responded to the first attacks with a "pinpoint response at the source of fire".
Reports from inside Lebanon said five Israeli mortar shells fell near the border inside Lebanon, but there were no injuries.
The latest attacks come a day after the leader of militant group Hezbollah, a strong ally of Hamas, spoke openly about the possibility of a renewed conflict with Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah had already put its fighters on high alert along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Northern Israel came under attack from rockets fired by Hezbollah during the brief war with Lebanon in the summer of 2006.
In 2007, Palestinian militant groups fired rockets from Lebanon into Israel.
Air attacks
In Gaza, Israel continued its offensive overnight with 60 airstrikes targeting police sites, 10 Hamas tunnels, weapons storage facilities, launching pads "and a number of armed gunmen", the Israeli army said.
Naval and artillery units "continued to support the ground forces" with one soldier lightly wounded, the army added.
Palestinian sources say an air attack destroyed a mosque in Gaza City but there has been no independent confirmation of this.
Unconfirmed reports also spoke of a tank advance with helicopter support towards Khan Younis, also in the south, shortly after midnight.
The bombardment followed a three-hour pause in fighting on Wednesday to allow vital humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Aid agencies report that Gazans rushed into the streets to buy essential supplies and visit relatives in hospital during the lull.
UN aid workers welcomed Israel's promise of brief daily ceasefires but said only a total end to fighting would allow them to distribute aid to those who need it.
Israel said on Wednesday it accepted the principles of a Franco-Egyptian truce proposal, which was backed by Washington, but wanted to see the details.
The UN Security Council seemed deadlocked over the crisis.
Arab countries want the Council to vote on a resolution calling for a ceasefire while Britain, France and the US are pushing for a weaker statement welcoming the Franco-Egyptian initiative.
The US could well veto any vote as it is a permanent member of the Security Council, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan reports.
Nearly 700 Palestinian and 11 Israeli lives are said to have been lost since the offensive began 12 days ago.
Casualty claims in Gaza cannot be independently verified.
While the BBC has had Palestinian producers reporting from Gaza, Israel only allowed Western TV crews to enter on Wednesday, embedded with its army.
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