Lebanese government condemns rocket attack
The Lebanese government on Wednesday denounced the firing of three rockets from Lebanon into Israel, saying the incident undermined national unity and gave Israel an excuse to attack the country.
"Whoever is behind this attack is targeting the national consensus and all parties represented within the government," Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters after discussing the situation with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
"There is a consensus between the political forces in the country and Hezbollah is part of this consensus," he added. "This gives Israel an excuse to attack Lebanon.
"Someone is trying to drag Lebanon into a conflict and is moving rockets from one area to another," Mitri said.
Israel retaliated by firing artillery shells at the area from which the rockets were launched.
The incident is the second of its kind in a week. On January 8, three rockets slammed into northern Israel from inside Lebanon, lightly wounding two Israelis in an attack in which the Hezbollah Shiite militia denied involvement.
Israel fought a brutal 34-day war with Hezbollah in the summer of 2006. There have been raised fears of renewed conflict in light of Israel”s offensive in Gaza that has killed close on 1,000 Palestinians.
Picture: Lebanese army soldiers look at a rocket which fell short in Lebanon several kilometers north of the Israeli border, near the village of el-Meri, in southern Lebanon, on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009. Israeli forces fired artillery north into Lebanon in response to a rocket attack, the second such border exchange in days which threatened to ignite a second front as Israel battled Hamas in Gaza. There were no reports of casualties on the Lebanese side, according to U.N. peacekeepers. No one was hurt after three rockets fell in open areas near the Israeli town of Kiryat Shemona, but residents were ordered into bomb shelters, Israeli police said. (AP Photo/Lutfallah Daher)