4 Rockets Defused in the South a Day after Israeli Retaliatory Attack
The Lebanese army and UNIFIL defused four rockets set for launching in the outskirts of Houla on Wednesday a day after a Katyusha fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel prompted the Jewish state to retaliate with artillery fire.
Tuesday”s attack, which was not immediately claimed, was the latest incident in growing cross-border tensions, and an Israeli military spokeswoman laid ultimate blame on the Beirut government.
Voice of Lebanon radio said Wednesday that the rockets were found on the same launch pad used during the attack the day before.
Tuesday”s rocket landed in open ground east of the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona and started a fire but caused no serious damage, sources there said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman later confirmed that "artillery had opened fire on the sector from which the Katyusha rocket was fired."
She said the army considered the attack as "serious, and considers that responsibility for it falls on the Lebanese government."
U.N. peacekeeping troops and the Lebanese army cut off the road to Houla and searched the area.
UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane said an inquiry has begun.
"UNIFIL immediately launched an investigation," she said, adding that the force had deployed additional troops in the area in coordination with the Lebanese army.
There were no reports of casualties on either side, Bouziane confirmed.