Jun 17, 2007, 16:31 GMT
Tel Aviv/Beirut - Militant Palestinians in south Lebanon fired two Katyusha rockets at northern Israel late Sunday afternoon, Lebanese security and Israeli military officials said.
An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets landed by Kiryat Shomna, on the border with Lebanon, causing no injuries, but damaging a vehicle.
Lebanese security sources said the rockets were fired from Aidisssyeh in southern Lebanon, an area monitored by the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) along with the Lebanese Army.
There were reports that Israeli troops fired five shells in retaliation on an area near Birka Naqar and Jabal Saddaneh, near the Lebanese town of Shebaa, as the Lebanese Army was searching for the guerrillas who fired the Katyushas. There were no reports of casualties.
An Israeli military spokeswoman denied that any shells had crossed into Lebanon and said that the rockets were fired for calibration purposes and did not contain any explosives.
The incident marks the first time since last summer's war between Israel and Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas that Katyushas have landed in the Jewish state.
UNIFIL sources confirmed the firing of rockets but said they 'will assess the situation on the ground and issue a statement.'
Lebanese security sources said Hezbollah was not responsible for the firing of rockets and that hardline Palestinian groups were behind it.
Lebanese troops carried out patrols and erected checkpoints to search civilian vehicles from the area where the rockets were apparently fired into Israel, security sources said.
The sources added that Lebanese troops were cordoning off an area between the village of Aidisssyeh and Taibeh, in the central sector of the border zone, where a rocket was apparently left by guerrillas.
Hezbollah denied in a statement 'any relation with the launching of rockets today towards the occupied Palestine.'
Abu Imad Ramez, spokesman for the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) denied responsibility for the attacks as well.
PFLP-GC has been responsible for previous Katyusha rockets launched from southern Lebanon in the past two years.
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