Clashes erupt on Lebanon border

The Israeli response was swift, but not directed at Syria

Israeli warplanes have attacked positions in southern Lebanon after Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas fired missiles towards Israeli posts in the disputed Shebaa Farms border area.

Witnesses said an Israeli jet fired two rockets around 1400 (1100 GMT), and two more 10 minutes later; there were no reports of casualties.

It is the first raid on Lebanon since July when Israeli planes destroyed a Syrian outpost in eastern Lebanon to retaliate for a Hezbollah attack in the Shebaa Farms area.

BBC Middle East correspondent Jeremy Cooke said that attacks were likely to spark fears of an escalation in the current Middle East crisis.

Rocket attack

Minutes before the air raid, Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon had launched a rocket attack against Jewish farms in the disputed Shebaa farms area between Israel and Syria.

In the past the Israelis have insisted that the Syrians, who are in effective control of Lebanon, are ultimately responsible for the actions of Hezbollah.

Israel has so far not repeated its attack on Syrian targets and our correspondent says this may reflect growing international alarm about the potential escalation of the crisis in the Middle East while military operations continue in Afghanistan.

Hezbollah has clashed with Israeli troops in the Shebaa Farms, which adjoin the Lebanese border and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, since Israel ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon last year.

Hezbollah, Syria and Lebanon all say the area is Lebanese soil, but the United Nations regards the Shebaa Farms as Israeli-occupied Syrian land.