Israel shells Lebanon after rocket attack

JERUSALEM: A rocket fired from Lebanon landed near a kibbutz in Israel yesterday, prompting return shelling by the Israeli military. The cross-border strikes marked the first such exchange in months and raised fears that recent unrest in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip could spread to Israel’s northern border.

No group in Lebanon claimed responsibility for the rocket, which landed in an open field near Metzuva in the western Galilee region. Lebanese media outlets reported that a Grad rocket was fired from the Ras al-Ein and Qiliya area.

Military officials said they suspected Palestinian militants were more likely responsible than Iranianaligned Hezbollah.