The chief of staff of the Israeli army announced Saturday that the military would “respond harshly” to the rocket fire launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel. “The army will respond severely to this morning’s attacks,” said General Eyal Zamir, who led a security assessment meeting, according to a military statement. “Lebanon bears the responsibility of upholding the ceasefire agreement” reached with Hezbollah on Nov. 27, he added.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned the military would hit back after intercepting three rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Saturday. "We cannot allow fire from Lebanon on Galilee communities," Katz said in a statement. "The Lebanese government is responsible for attacks from its territory. I have ordered the military to respond accordingly."

Air raid sirens sounded at 7:30 a.m. local time in Metula, an Israeli town near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military later said three rockets had entered Israeli territory but were intercepted. "We promised security to Galilee communities, and that is exactly what will happen," Katz said. "Metula's fate is the same as Beirut's." The official National News Agency in Lebanon said Israeli warplanes flew over eastern areas of southern Lebanon and that interceptor missiles exploded. NNA said Israeli ground troops were strafing the Hamames hills with automatic weapon fire.

It also reported Israeli artillery fire on the Nabatieh district in the south and the town of Khiam, which was hit by "three shells (fired by) Merkava tanks".

The military also fired automatic weapons at the border villages of Hula, Markaba and Kfar Kila. A Nov. 27 truce largely halted more than a year of fighting between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war during which Israel sent in ground troops