Star Metro - Israel blames Lebanon rocket salvo on Palestinian groups

Israel's army said it had "identified 34 rockets that were fired from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory" -- the largest escalation along the frontier since Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006.

Twenty-five rockets were intercepted by Israeli air defences, while "five rockets landed in Israeli territory," added the army statement that followed the attack, which was not immediately claimed by any group.

Israeli army spokesperson Lt. Colonel Richard Hecht said Palestinian groups were responsible for the rockets.

"We know for sure it's Palestinian fire," he told reporters. "It could be Hamas it could be Islamic Jihad, we are still trying to finalise but it wasn't Hezbollah.

"We assume Hezbollah knew about it, and Lebanon also has some responsibility. We are also investigating whether Iran was involved," he continued.

The rocket fire came just over a day after Israeli police drew widespread condemnation from around the region for clashing with Palestinians inside Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque -- Islam's third-holiest site.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday was "receiving continuous updates about the security situation and will conduct an assessment with the heads of the security establishment", his office said.

Israeli emergency services reported a man had been lightly wounded by shrapnel and a female was injured while running to a shelter.

- 'Extremely serious' -

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which patrols the border area between the two countries that are technically still at war, has called for restraint.

"The current situation is extremely serious," said the force. "UNIFIL urges restraint and to avoid further escalation."

Warning sirens sounded in the town of Shlomi and in Moshav Betzet and the Galilee in northern Israel, the army said.

The Israeli military denied to AFP that it had retaliated "thus far", in response to reports from Lebanon's National News Agency that Israel had struck targets in southern Lebanon.

According to the Lebanon report, Israeli artillery fired "several shells from its positions on the border" towards the outskirts of two villages after the launch of "several Katyusha type rockets" at Israel.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant "completed a situation assessment with senior officials in Israel's defense establishment", after which he instructed "to prepare all the possible responses to recent events," a statement said.

Inspecting his damaged office in the town of Shlomi, 46-year-old Shlomi Naaman told AFP: "I heard the siren, I heard the boom, I was in my home, it was very very scary."

"I heard from other people that my office (had) taken damage from the rocket... and I came here and I saw all the damage," he added.

Also from Shlomi, Noy Atias, 21, said: "It's not something so special... this is the reality in Israel."

"Security is the most important thing in life, nothing else matters," she said, accusing political leaders of being preoccupied by "things that are not important".

- Al-Aqsa clashes -

Israeli riot police had on Wednesday stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque in a pre-dawn raid aiming to dislodge "law-breaking youths and masked agitators" they said had barricaded themselves inside.

The violence, during both the Jewish Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, sparked an exchange of rockets and air strikes with militants in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, France condemned what it called "indiscriminate rocket fire targeting Israeli territory from Gaza and southern Lebanon".

Lebanon's Iran-backed armed movement Hezbollah had warned earlier Thursday it would support "all measures" that Palestinian groups may take against Israel after the clashes.

Hezbollah is the only Lebanese faction that kept its weapons after the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war.

"Hezbollah forcefully denounces the assault carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the Al-Aqsa mosque compound," the group said in a statement.

Hezbollah, an arch foe of Israel, has close ties with the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, and with the Islamic Jihad militant group, which is also based in the coastal enclave.

The rockets came a day after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Lebanon for a visit.

A Hamassourcetold AFP that Haniyeh had cancelled a visit to the southern Lebanese city of Sidon scheduled for Thursday afternoon due to the "developments".

The source added that Haniyeh was set to meet with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in the next 48 hours.

The last rocket fired from Lebanon into Israel was in April 2022.

A.Bergeron--SMC