Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel

Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel

It was unclear who fired the Katyusha rockets across the border from southern Lebanon [File: AFP] A second rocket barrage from Lebanon has hit northern Israel, Israeli police say. The latest attack on Thursday came just hours after at least three rockets landed in the town of Nahariya, about 8km south of the Lebanese border, causing slight injuries. The Israeli military fired mortars into southern Lebanon in response to the initial attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in southern Israel, said analysts were suggesting that the rocket attack could have been carried out by Palestinians in southern Lebanon. She said the firing of rockets from Lebanon "could mean the opening of a second front" in the war on Gaza which has left at least 700 Palestinians dead. Military alert The Israeli military has been on alert in the north since it intensified the Gaza offensive, which it says is aimed at stopping rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip. Lebanon is home to more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees, according to UN figures. The last time Katyushas were fired from Lebanon was in June 2007. Hezbollah denied responsibility and Israel blamed an unnamed Palestinian group. The Palestinian Hamas group, which has been targeted by the ongoing Israeli aerial and ground assault on Gaza, denied it carried out the attack from southern Lebanon. "Hamas is pursuing its combat inside Palestine and our principle is not to use any other Arab soil to respond to the occupation," Raafat Morra, a Hamas spokesman, told the AFP news agency. On Wednesday, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, warned that "all possibilities" were open against Israel as he gave a speech condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza and voicing support for Hamas. The Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006 in which about 1,200 mostly Lebanese civilians were killed. Conflict warning Addressing tens of thousands of supporters via video link at his stronghold in Beirut's suburbs, Nasrallah said: "I say to [Ehud] Olmert [Israel's prime minister], the loser, the vanquished in Lebanon that 'you cannot overcome Hamas or Hezbollah'." The comments marked the first time he has spoken so openly on the possibility of a renewed conflict with Israel since the war in Gaza began on December 27. "We are ready to sacrifice our souls, our brothers and sisters, our children, our loved ones for what we believe in" Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah warned that the 2006 conflict would be "but a walk in the park" compared to what awaits Israel if it launches a new offensive on Lebanon. "We have to act as though all possibilities are real and open [against Israel] and we must always be ready for any eventuality. "We are ready to sacrifice our souls, our brothers and sisters, our children, our loved ones for what we believe in." The Hezbollah leader also reiterated past criticism of Egypt for failing to open its border with Gaza and condemned the United Nation Security Council for not acting to denounce the Israeli offensive that has left more than 700 Palestinians dead. "Does the government in Egypt need more than 650 victims and 2,500 wounded to open the Rafah crossing once and for all to help the people of Gaza toward victory?" Nasrallah said. "I am simply asking for the opening of a crossing and not another front."

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