Violence erupts on Israel-Lebanon border

Israel shelled southern Lebanon on Saturday after a rocket slammed into its territory in a tit-for-tat exchange of fire across their tense border, sources on both sides said. Israeli public radio said a woman was lightly injured by flying glass in her home when the rocket landed near the Israeli town of Maalot near the border. "The Israeli army considers this a serious incident and believes it is the responsibility of the Lebanese government and the army to prevent this rocket fire," an Israeli army spokesman said. A Lebanese army spokesman said Israel had fired off eight artillery shells after two rockets were fired from Lebanon on to Israel. There were no reports of injuries in Lebanon and no claim of responsibility for the attack. "One of the two shells fired from Lebanon landed in Israel and the second landed on the Lebanese side of the border," the spokesman said. He said Lebanese troops and members of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) had found the launch pads for the rocket attacks. An AFP correspondent on site said the rockets were fired from a lemon grove near the village of El-Henniyeh in the El-Qlayleh region located about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border. The area is largely controlled by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its Amal party ally. Panicked residents could be seen fleeing as Israel retaliated. "My six-year-old girl was terrified," said Hassan Faqih, 49, as he headed to the nearby coastal town of Tyre with his wife and two children. "We will stay in Tyre if the situation escalates." In January, rockets were fired on two occasions from Lebanon into northern Israel in attacks that frayed nerves on both sides of the tense border and raised fears that the war in Gaza could spread. Hezbollah at the time denied involvement. The Shiite Muslim party fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 that left more than 1,200 Lebanese dead, most of them civilians. The 34-day war broke out after guerrillas from the Shiite movement seized two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid. During the conflict, Hezbollah sent more than 4,000 rockets into northern Israel. The Lebanese government, in which Hezbollah is represented, has repeatedly stressed that it was committed to the UN-brokered truce that ended the war. It strongly condemned the rocket attacks that took place during Israel's three-week war against Gaza and its Hamas rulers, insisting that they were the work of rogue elements. Earlier this month, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak warned that any attack by Hezbollah would prompt a tough response from Israel. "I want to say here, on the border, that I don't recommend that Hezbollah test us because the consequences would be more painful than one can imagine," Barak said during a visit to the Israeli-Lebanese frontier area. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to avenge the killing of top commander Imad Mughnieh who died in a February 2008 car bombing in Damascus which the Shiite militant group blamed on Israel. In a speech this week marking the one-year anniversary of Mughnieh's death, he repeated this vow and said his group was also entitled to anti-aircraft weapons in its fight against Israel.