Israel says Lebanon rockets were 'Palestinian fire'

Israel blamed Palestinian groups on Thursday for a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon, an Israeli army spokesperson said.

"We know for sure it's Palestinian fire," Lt. Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters.

"It's hard to say, it could be Hamas it could be Islamic Jihad, we are still trying to finalize but it wasn't Hezbollah," he continued.

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

Hecht also said that Thursday's rocket fire was not believed to be connected to events in Syria.

The salvo of 34 rockets fired on the Jewish holiday of Passover was the largest escalation along the frontier since Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006.

It came just days after Israeli police drew widespread condemnation and warnings of retaliation from around the region for beating up Palestinians inside Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque -- Islam's third-holiest site.