LIVE - Artillery fire exchange on Lebanon's southern border

Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been in contact with Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun on the situation in the South, as well as with UNIFIL, according to a Serail statement on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Mikati held a meeting at the Serail with UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland and other UN officials. The meeting focused on "Lebanon's compliance with international decisions on the Blue Line and the need to preserve calm and stability in the South," the statement said.

Mikati is due to hold talks with Joanna Wronecka, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and with UNIFIL Commander Aroldo Lázaro.

Salam al-Kadiri, a shopkeeper from Kafr Shuba, told L'Orient Today by phone: "I came home to find my children aged five, 12 and 14 terrorized and crying" after the rocket fires close to the village.

"I'd barely been out the door for five minutes when the Israeli rockets hit and caused a fire in the village," he added. ''We're used to this kind of situation, but I'm not going to hide from you that we've already started packing our bags to leave our house and go to Saida, in case the escalation resumes."

UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Aroldo Lazaro has been in contact with authorities in Lebanon and Israel, UNIFIL said in a statement Thursday.

"Our liaison mechanisms have been fully engaged to prevent further escalation, the statement said.

UNIFIL said it sent peacekeepers to investigate the incident in Kafr Shuba and said the sounds were consistent with a possible rocket launch.

"This incident comes at a sensitive time and in an area that already experienced tensions earlier this week. We urge everyone to exercise restraint and avoid any action that could cause further escalation," the statement added.

Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah released a statement asking the Lebanese government and its people to act against Israeli violations in the border village of Ghajar, which has a Lebanese part recognized by the UN. Israeli forces planted a fence in the village over the weekend, in violation of Resolution 1701.

After the Israeli strikes reported by the NNA, the head of the municipality of Kafr Shuba Qassem Kadiri told L'Orient Today that the strikes caused a fire in the area. 

The rocket fire also came after Israel concluded one of its largest military operations in years in the occupied West Bank in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin.

The exchange of fire happened after, over the weekend, Israel de facto incorporated the Lebanese part of Ghajar, contributing to heightened border tensions. Located on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights this Alawite-majority village, which is crossed by the Blue Line, was completely cut off from Lebanon after the Israeli army erected a fence to its north, in violation of Resolution 1701.

Hezbollah on Thursday called on the Lebanese government and people to act against Israeli violations in Ghajar.

Read this story for more details about the annexion of Ghajar and its consequences: After the ‘annexation’ of Ghajar, are Lebanon and Israel heading toward a new escalation?

Hezbollah also recently installed two tents in the disputed region of the Kfarchouba hills and the Shebaa farms.

A senior source in the Lebanese army told L'Orient-Le Jour that the group responsible for launching the rocket from Lebanese territory was probably Palestinian, without being able to specify which organization.

It added that Palestinian armed groups "have underground hiding places for their rockets. This allows them to launch their projectiles without moving and without being spotted by the army."

''We have deployed in the area to identify the group that fired the rocket and prevent any further firing," added the source, who ruled out the possibility of escalation.

The United Nations' peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) was not immediately available to comment. 

In response, Israeli forces struck an area of Lebanon from which a cross-border rocket launch was carried out earlier in the morning, the Israeli military said.

According to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency, more than 15 rockets have been launched toward the village of Kfar Shuba and Mazraat Halta. 

In the morning, two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel one of them landing in Lebanese territory and the second near a disputed area at the border, three security sources in Lebanon said to Reuters. There was no claim of responsibility for the reported rocket fire.

Dear readers,

Welcome to our Live Blog on the latest developments along the border between Lebanon and Israel, where an exchange of artillery fire took place this Thursday morning.