The Israeli military began launching artillery and air strikes on southern Lebanon on Monday after it said it had intercepted rockets fired at Israel from Lebanese territory, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Israeli forces said they had intercepted three rockets fired from an area in Lebanon about 6 km north of the Lebanese-Israeli border. This was the first such launch since a ceasefire was reached in November in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite movement "Hezbollah".
Israeli army radio reported that Israeli forces were responding to artillery fire. Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli artillery hit two towns in southern Lebanon and that airstrikes hit three other towns closer to the border.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that the Lebanese government was responsible for any rocket fire from Lebanese territory. He added that he had ordered the Israeli armed forces to respond to the rocket fire.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned on Monday that there was a risk of renewed hostilities in southern Lebanon. "All security and military measures must be taken to show that Lebanon decides on matters of war and peace," Salam said after Israeli strikes on towns in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that the renewal of military action along Lebanon's border with Israel risks dragging the country into a new war, the Lebanese news agency NNA reported, quoted by BTA.
The prime minister issued his warning after Israel said it had intercepted three projectiles aimed at northern Israel from Lebanese territory. Salam said he had called Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Mansi and stressed the need to take all possible security and military measures to "confirm that only the state (in Lebanon) has the right to decide whether there will be war or peace." The prime minister also called on the UN to increase international pressure on Israel to withdraw completely from Lebanese territory amid a fragile ceasefire agreement. The NNA said towns in southern Lebanon were shelled by Israel on Monday. No casualties were reported. A ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has been in place since November.