Lebanon launches probe into rocket attacks on Israel
Lebanon on Thursday launched a probe into a rocket attack on northern Israel amid indications that Hezbollah was not involved and heightened fears of a second front opening up in the Gaza war.
"Lebanon denounces and condemns the firing of rockets and the retaliatory action and believes that such action is in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701," Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said in a statement.
"We have asked the competent authorities in cooperation with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to investigate."
He added that Lebanon was committed to the UN-brokered truce that ended the devastating 2006 war between the militant group Hezbollah and Israel.
Resolution 1701 helped bring an end to that conflict.
Siniora, who was to chair a cabinet meeting later in the day to discuss developments, said the rocket fire was the work of parties seeking to destabilise Lebanon.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place near the village of Tayr Harfa, near the Israeli border, but Hezbollah indicated it was not responsible.
"Hezbollah has assured us that they remain committed to stability and Resolution 1701 and that is a euphemism for saying they are not involved," Information Minister Tarek Mitri told AFP.
"We have absolutely no reason to think that Hezbollah might be involved," he added.
Mitri said the government had made high-level contacts with Hezbollah officials who gave assurances that the party was keen to stick to its commitment toward stability in the country and avoid a new conflict with Israel.
"We still hope that Lebanon won”t be dragged into this conflict (Gaza) but we have to be more vigilant to make sure that this incident is a one-time incident," Mitri said.
Two people in northern Israel were lightly wounded by the rockets which drew retaliatory fire by the Israeli army, officials said.
Israeli jets also overflew south Lebanon at low altitude, AFP correspondents witnessed.
Fears have been running high since the war in the Gaza Strip began December 27 of another front opening up in southern Lebanon but Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has so far stuck to rhetoric in denouncing the Israeli offensive.
On Wednesday he warned Israel that all "possibilities are open" and that its 2006 war with his party would resemble "a walk in the park" if a new conflict erupted.
Thursday”s rockets were fired from the same region where security forces found seven missiles directed at Israel in December. Hezbollah at the time denied any involvement.
Officials in Israel and Lebanon have said that the rockets may be the work of a Palestinian faction.
Ahmed Jibril, the Damascus-based leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, had threatened on January 3 to open up new military fronts against Israel if the war in Gaza escalates.
A spokesman for the party would not specifically comment on the rocket attack Thursday except to slam Israel”s offensive in Gaza and inaction by Arab sates.
"This war is open to all possibilities in the absence of a political will from the international community to dissuade Israel from pursuing its Holocaust in Gaza," Anwar Raja told AFP.
"Israel and the silent Arab regimes must be conscious of the consequences of their actions," he added.
Representatives of the two main Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah both denied that their movements were behind the firings.
Meanwhile the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said it had boosted the number of troops deployed in southern Lebanon in a bid to contain the situation.
"UNIFIL is investigating the circumstances of (Thursday”s) incident … and the UNIFIL commander … has called for maximum restraint in order to prevent any escalation of the situation," spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane said.
UNIFIL has some 13,000 troops from various countries stationed in southern Lebanon.
The force, which was set up in 1978 to monitor the border between Israel and southern Lebanon, was considerably beefed up in the wake of the 2006 war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas.
Picture: An Israeli soldier look into the barrel of a tank outside the central Gaza Strip January 8, 2009. Several rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Thursday, slightly wounding two people, police and medics said, in attacks seen as linked to Israel”s war on Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL)