Rockets from Lebanon reignite tension in Israel's north

Southern Lebanon, which abuts northern Israel, has been patrolled by Lebanese army troops and a bolstered force of more than 12,000 United Nations troops known as the Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, since the 2006 war between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, which, with its powerful militia and well-developed political organization and social services, is almost a state unto itself in Lebanon.

Rocket fire from the valleys and mountains of southern Lebanon into northern Israel has for decades been a source of regional friction and wars, beginning with Palestine Liberation Organization attacks and Israeli incursions in the 1970s. In Thursday's incident, three or more Katyusha rockets were fired from a valley between the villages of Dhaira and Tayra Harfa, a rural Hezbollah stronghold about four miles east of the coastal town of Naqoura and less than two miles from the Israeli frontier.

The rockets landed around the northern Israeli resort town of Nahariya shortly after 7:30 a.m., authorities in Israel and Lebanon said. As a UNIFIL helicopter scoured the area, Israel returned fire within 15 minutes, causing no injuries or damage, officials and witnesses said.

"It was an immediate response mechanism that shoots immediately at the location where the rockets came from," Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for UNIFIL, said in a phone interview from the organization's headquarters in Naqoura.

Residents of the sparsely inhabited agricultural region panicked as Israeli fighter jets flew above. Families rushed to fetch their children from school.

"Of course we got scared because this reminded us of the war in 2006," said Hossein Fouani, 21, a stone quarry employee who lives in Dhaira and survived the previous conflict huddling with relatives at a U.N. compound.

UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano, who maintains contact with both Israeli and Lebanese authorities, called for "maximum restraint" by all parties. As evening approached, tensions between Israel and Lebanon appeared to ease, even as the fighting in the Gaza Strip continued to rage.

Experts say the attack, which employed older Katyusha rockets, bore the hallmarks of Palestinian groups rather than Hezbollah, which has an arsenal of newer, longer-range weapons.

"It's very possible that Hezbollah wasn't aware of the attack," Saad-Ghorayeb said.

Analysts note that some supporters of the Palestinian cause have accused Hezbollah of abandoning the fight.

"It could be that Palestinian groups are trying to corner Hezbollah and draw the group into a confrontation with Israel," said Sami Nader, a professor of international relations at the University of St. Joseph in Beirut.

--

daragahi@latimes.com

--

Rafei is a special correspondent.