Israel complains to UN after missile is fired from southern Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanese troops have found and dismantled four rockets near the southern border of the country, a day after a rocket hit northern Israel. The attack on Tuesday drew a rapid response from Israeli artillery in a brief flare-up across the tense border that caused no casualties. A Lebanese official was quoted by AP as saying that the Katyusha rockets were discovered in a building under construction in the Houla area from where Tuesday's missile was launched. He says three of the four rockets found were ready to be fired.

The IDF said on Wednesday that the militant group Islamic Jihad was responsible for the attack. In response to the rocket launching, Israeli UN ambassador Gabriela Shalev filed a complaint with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, stating that in the past months there has been an increase in hostile activity on the Lebanese border and expressing hope that the Security Council's periodic report would reflect these recent violations. Shalev wrote that the Lebanese government should be held responsible for the rocket launch, also reminding Ban that Israel had for the past three years alerted the UN as to the rehabilitation of Hezbollah's military capabilities.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora condemned both the rocket launching and Israel's retaliatory attack. The Israeli reaction had been “an act of aggression and a violation of international law," he was quoted as saying.