Israeli air force hits target in Lebanon

The Israeli air force struck a target near Beirut in southern Lebanon according to a statement released by the Israeli military Friday, just one day after four rockets were fired into northern Israel from a Palestinian refugee camp.

The Israeli air strike was a "precision strike that hit its target," the Israeli Air Force said in a statement, without offering further detail.

Israel said it holds the Lebanese government accountable for the rocket attacks.

A group calling itself the Abdallah al-Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks against Israel.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman denied any involvement with Thursday's attacks, saying, "The firing of rockets towards Israel is a violation of the UN-regulated ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon," according to the Jerusalem Post. 

At least four Katyousha rockets were fired toward northern Israel from Lebanon. The rockets were fired from the area of Rashidiyah Palestinian refugee camp in the Lebanese city of Tyre.

An explosion was heard near Israel's northern border with Lebanon, moments after air raid sirens sounded in the region, witnesses said.

"I heard a weak explosion, and then in parallel to the siren, I heard a stronger boom," Keinan Engel, a resident of Nahariya, told Army Radio.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said one of the rockets was intercepted by Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system. He said the others did not land in Israel. He said light damage to a street and vehicle in northern Israel was likely caused from fallout from the rocket-defense system.

Lerner blamed "global jihad" elements of being behind the attack, referring to groups either linked to or inspired by al-Qaeda, not Hezbollah.

Israeli Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, a military spokesman, said the firing appeared to be an isolated incident that wouldn't become a larger confrontation. Police urged residents in the region to remain close to bomb shelters.

The rocket firing comes a day after Lebanese news agency NNA reported that two Israeli drones flew over Beirut and other areas.

Al Jazeera and wire services