34 rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel, 25 intercepted
The Israeli army said it intercepted rocket fire from Lebanon Thursday after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians inside al-Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third-holiest site -- drew warnings of retaliation from around the region.
Israel's army said it had "identified 34 rockets that were fired from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory" and that 25 were intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
"Five rockets landed in Israeli territory," added the Israeli army statement that followed the attack, which was not immediately claimed by any group.
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.
Sources close to Hezbollah meanwhile told Al-Arabiya TV that "Palestinian factions are behind the firing of rockets" and that Hezbollah was not involved in the incident.
"We would not respond to any Israeli action in this manner," the source said.
There was no immediate claim of the responsibility for the attack, which came amid heightened tensions after Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn Wednesday and again in the evening.
Lebanese security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media said the rockets had been fired from the area of a Palestinian refugee camp — suggesting that the rockets had been fired by Palestinian militants based in Lebanon.
The Lebanese army said in a statement that it found missile launchers and “a number of rockets intended for launch” in the vicinity of the towns of Zibqin and Qlayleh in south Lebanon and was working to dismantle them.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "receiving continuous updates about the security situation and will conduct an assessment with the heads of the security establishment," his office said. A meeting of Israel's security cabinet was also scheduled for later Thursday.
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad hailed the rockets as “a heroic operation against the Israeli crimes in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The rockets came a day after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Lebanon for a visit.
A Hamas source told AFP that Haniyeh had canceled 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 Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in the next 48 hours.
Israeli emergency services reported a man had been lightly wounded by shrapnel and a female was injured while running to the shelter.
Warning sirens sounded in the town of Shlomi and in Moshav Betzet and the Galilee in northern Israel, the army said.
In the evening, three mortar shells were fired from the southern Lebanese region of Marjeyoun at an open area in Israel's Metulla, Israeli media reports said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meanwhile "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.
And as Israel's foreign minister said that Israel "will take all measures to protect its security," security sources told Israel's Channel 12 that there will be no "war against Lebanon" while confirming that Israel will "retaliate."
Armed police in riot gear stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn Wednesday, 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, with fears of further escalation.
Lebanon's Hezbollah warned earlier Thursday it would support "all measures" Palestinian groups may take against Israel after the clashes.
"Hezbollah forcefully denounces the assault carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and its attacks on the faithful," Hezbollah 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 last rocket fired from Lebanon into Israel was in April 2022.
Security incidents occur from time to time in the border area between Lebanon and Israel, which is guarded by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet, Associated Press
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