Post by Salem6 on Jan 8, 2009 7:45:26 GMT
At least three rockets have been fired into northern Israel from Lebanon raising fears that the current Israeli offensive in Gaza may spill over.
Israel's army responded with artillery. It is not clear who fired the rockets, and no-one has said they did it.
The exchange came as Israel reportedly launched 60 air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight, targeting facilities used by the militant Hamas group.
Correspondents say this is a very dangerous moment in Israel's conflict.
The fear in the past few days has been that the violence in Gaza could spread to northern Israel and the Lebanese border area, says the BBC's Mike Sergeant in Jerusalem.
Diplomatic efforts to secure a truce in Gaza continue, with a senior Israeli official due to travel to Cairo to hear details of a ceasefire plan drawn up by Egypt and France.
Egypt's UN ambassador said representatives from Hamas may also go to Cairo, although they would not necessarily hold face-to-face talks with their Israeli counterparts.
Schools closed
At least three Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, with some reports putting the number of rocket attacks at five.
One rocket hit the Nahariya area, north of the city of Haifa.
At least two people were slightly wounded and a number of others suffering from shock, Israeli officials said.
Schools have been closed and residents told to stay in doors, local officials said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks.
But it came a day after the leader of militant group Hezbollah, a strong ally of Hamas, spoke openly about the possibility of a renewed conflict with Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah had already put its fighters on high alert along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Northern Israel came under attack from rockets fired by Hezbollah during the brief war with Lebanon in the summer of 2006.
Israel said it had responded to the latest attack from inside Lebanon with a "pinpoint response at the source of fire".
Reports from inside Lebanon said five Israeli mortar shells fell near the border inside Lebanon, but there were no injuries.
Air attacks
In Gaza, Israel continued its offensive overnight with 60 airstrikes targeting police sites, 10 Hamas tunnels, weapons storage facilities, launching pads "and a number of armed gunmen", the Israeli army said.
Naval and artillery units "continued to support the ground forces" with one soldier lightly wounded, the army added.
Palestinian sources say an air attack destroyed a mosque in Gaza City but there has been no independent confirmation of this.
At least 683 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,085 injured since the offensive began on 27 December, Palestinian health officials say.
Israel has lost seven soldiers on the ground to date while rockets have killed four people.
Casualty claims in Gaza cannot be independently verified.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7817135.stm