Israel strikes Lebanon and Gaza Strip after rocket attack

Israel launched strikes in southern Lebanon early on Friday morning while continuing to hit targets in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said.The strikes came after militants from Lebanon fired nearly three dozen rockets at Israel on Thursday.

Additionally, rockets were fired from Gaza toward southern Israel early Friday morning, following the Israeli attacks there.Clashes have been escalating this week, after Israeli police raids at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.

With the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover coinciding again this year, the cross-border attacks have come at a delicate time.

The mosque compound, which is the third-holiest site in Islam, is built on the most sacred site in Judaism, the Temple Mount.Two years ago, claims over an Israeli police operation at Al-Aqsa led to 11 days of open conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Israel says it was targeting Hamas installations in Lebanon

The Israeli military on Friday said the strikes targeted installations belonging to the militant group Hamas in the south of Lebanon. Local media reported blasts in the Lebanese port city of Tyre.

The US, EU, Japan and several other nations have classified Hamas as a terrorist organization.Following a meeting with his Security Cabinet late on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Israel's response, tonight and beyond, will extract a heavy price from our enemies."

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his country "categorically rejects any military escalation."

In response to the strikes, Hamas said they "strongly" condemned "aggression against Lebanon in the vicinity of Tyre at dawn today."Fire and smoke are seen following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City

Neither Lebanon nor Israel wants war, says UN

Meanwhile, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon urged calm on Friday. The UN peacekeepers — deployed in southern Lebanon to provide a buffer between the two countries — called on "all parties to cease all actions" on both sides of the border.

The latest flare of rocket fire between Lebanese territory and Israel is one of the largest escalations of violence along the border since Israeli forces and paramilitary forces allied with the Lebanon-based organization, Hezbollah, fought a 34-day war in 2006.(AP, AFP, dpa)