At least four Katyusha rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday morning local time, wounding two people and raising fears that the conflict in Gaza could spread to the north of Israel. The Israeli military fired back at the point from which the rockets were launched. IDF officials said they were concerned about attacks by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. It was not immediately clear whether Hezbollah fighters – against whom Israel fought a 2006 war – or Palestinians in southern Lebanon fired the rockets.
Lebanese security sources said they felt it was unlikely Hezbollah fired the rockets, which came from an area controlled by UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army, about two miles north of the border. Hamas sources in Lebanon denied any involvement.
Israeli forces have been on alert in the north, anticipating that Hezbollah or Palestinian groups could fire rockets into northern Israel and lend support to Hamas and the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants. Some 4,000 Hezbollah rockets hit Israel in the 2006 conflict. "We took into account there would be an attempt by Palestinian groups to express solidarity," Israeli cabinet minister Shalom Simchon was quoted by ‘Reuters’ as saying after the attack.
