Rare flareup on Israel-Lebanon border after clashes in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A projectile fired from Lebanon hit an open area in Israel on Monday and Israeli artillery targeted an area where the attack was launched, the Israeli military said.

The rare flareup on the Israeli-Lebanese border followed clashes over the past two weeks between Palestinians and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem that have stoked Arab anger and international concern. Small Palestinian factions in Lebanon have fired sporadically on Israel in the past. On Twitter, the Israeli military said no sirens were sounded and no alert was declared in northern Israel when the projectile, which it did not identify in its posting, struck.

Israel’s anti-missile defence system does not necessarily intercept projectiles if they appear to be on track to hit unpopulated areas. In response to the attack, Israeli artillery “targeted the source of the launch”, the Israeli military said, without giving further details. Aroldo Lazaro, head of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), has urged “calm and restraint in this volatile and ongoing situation”, the mission said on Twitter.

Israel’s northern border has been mostly quiet since a 2006 war against Hezbollah guerrillas, who have sway in southern Lebanon and an arsenal of advanced rockets.