Lebanon-Israel border calm after rocket attack.

Byline: AFP 

BEIRUT: UN peacekeepers were monitoring the Lebanese border with Israel on Saturday, a day after rockets launched from south Lebanon slammed into Galilee, but the situation was "calm," a spokeswoman said.

"UNIFIL in coordination with the LAF (Lebanese army) deployed additional troops in the general area to prevent any escalation of the situation, but the situation is pretty calm today," the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane told AFP.

At least two rockets fired from southern Lebanon slammed into Israel on Friday, triggering retaliatory artillery fire across the border.

"Several rockets hit western Galilee. They did not cause any casualties," an Israeli military spokesman told AFP. "We responded by firing 12 to 15 artillery shells towards the source of the fire."

The Lebanese army said the village of Al-Qlaileh was hit and ambulances were rushed from the port city of Tyre, nine kilometres (five miles) away.

A Lebanese security official said two rockets were fired earlier from the village, 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the border. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers later found the wooden platforms from which the rockets were fired, the official said.

The peacekeeping troops continued to urge both sides to exercise maximum restraint and had launched an investigation into the incident, Bouziane said, but would not comment on who could be behind the rocket attacks.

"We will wait for the report," she said.

The attack is the third this year.

In January, during Israel s assault on the Gaza Strip, four rockets fired from Lebanon fell on the north of Israel, injuring two women.

In February, Israeli artillery bombarded Al-Qlaileh in response to similar rocket fire. There were no casualties on the Lebanese side while a few Israelis were lightly wounded.

The Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a devastating 34-day war with Israel in 2006 and has its stronghold in the south, denied responsibility for the attack.

The party has not yet commented on Friday s attack. UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the border with Israel and was expanded after Israel s devastating war on Hezbollah in 2006. The force currently numbers between 12,500 and 13,000 troops.

Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC 2009

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