Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday Lebanon "refuses any escalation from its territory," condemning the barrage of rockets fired towards Israel from its soil.

Mikati said in a statement that Lebanon "rejects the use of its territory to carry out operations that destabilize the situation," after Israel threatened to retaliate against Palestinian groups it accused of the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed Israel's enemies would "pay a price" following a barrage of rockets from Lebanon that was blamed on Palestinian groups.

"We will strike our enemies and they will pay the price for any act of aggression," Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting, according to a short video statement released by his office.

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.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon toward Israel, his spokesman said Thursday, calling on "all actors to exercise maximum restraint."

"We condemn the multiple rockets being fired from Lebanon into northern Israel today," Stephane Dujarric told reporters, asking all parties to "avoid any unilateral action that could further escalate the situation."

The United States said Thursday that its ally Israel had the right to defend itself after a barrage of rockets from Lebanon following soaring tensions over Jerusalem.

"We condemn the launch of rockets from Lebanon and Gaza at Israel," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday addressed questions to the Lebanese government after dozens of rockets were fired from south Lebanon at northern Israel.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday called for restraint after rocket fire from southern Lebanon targeted Israel.

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.

The Internal Security Forces on Thursday announced foiling an attempt to use a drone to smuggle drugs into the central Roumieh Prison.

In a statement, the ISF said a drone was detected hovering over Roumieh’s convicts ward on March 31, which prompted the prison’s guards to seize it.

The Lebanese judiciary has received a French judicial writ summoning Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to an interrogation session in France on May 16, LBCI TV reported on Thursday.

In Lebanon, Judge Charbel Abu Samra postponed a Salameh interrogation session in a domestic probe against the governor to May 18, al-Jadeed television said.