Two rockets fired from Lebanon have landed in northern Israel in a rare attack that immediately raised tensions along the volatile front, authorities said.
Police said the rockets landed in an open area near the border town of Nahariya on Tuesday afternoon, causing no injuries. The Israeli military said a third rocket was intercepted by the country's Iron Dome rocket-defence system.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Lebanon's state-run news agency reported that three rockets were fired from the village of Housh, near the city of Tyre.
South Lebanon, the scene of bitter fighting between Israel and Lebanese militant Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006, is considered a Hezbollah stronghold. There are also Palestinian radical groups and Islamic militants who could also provoke a border incident. Several such incidents in the past were claimed by radical Palestinian groups.
Israeli military officials have accused "global jihad" elements of being behind the attack, referring to groups either linked to or inspired by al-Qaida. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under military guidelines.
Witnesses in northern Israel reported hearing explosions and sirens wailing. Keinan Engel, a Nahariya resident, told Israel Radio that he heard the siren follow a loud boom nearby. The Israeli military said it was investigating. Israel's Channel 2 television station showed a still image of a remnant of a rocket on a cobblestone street and a nearby vehicle that was damaged.
The Israel-Lebanon border has remained quiet since the month-long 2006 war, although sporadic incidents of rocket fire have taken place since.
But tensions have remained high, especially as Hezbollah has become increasingly involved in the civil war in neighboring Syria. Israel fears that Syria will transfer sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah.