Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts 

     BEIRUT, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Information Minister Tareq Mitri denounced Wednesday the firing of rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, local Naharnet website reported.

    "Firing rockets targeting Lebanon's national interest and the interest of the Palestinian," Mitri told reporters after meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora.

    Mitri said last week that all Lebanese factions inside the government reached a unanimous consensus on avoiding dragging Lebanon into a confrontation with Israel.

    Israel, however, said the Lebanese government is responsible for rocket launching from southern Lebanon.

    Hezbollah's international relation official Nawaf Mousawi told OTV Wednesday that the Lebanese authorities are responsible for detecting who is firing rockets from southern Lebanon.

    Three Katyusha rockets were launched on Wednesday morning, landing in northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, which prompted Israeli response by firing 17 artillery shells on various areas in southern Lebanon.

    This is the second attacks from southern Lebanon in a week. Last Thursday, northern Israel was pounded by two rockets fired from southern Lebanon, with one of them taking a direct hit at a nursing home in the city of Nahariya and injuring two people. The IDF returned fire and intensified air patrol over the area.

    The Lebanese government and Hezbollah denied any involvement in the previous incident, and speculations mainly pointed to Palestinian militants in Lebanon who were anger at Israel's devastating onslaught in Gaza and attempted to disturb Israel's northern land.

    Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has reaffirmed the country's commitment to the UN Resolution 1701 to stay calm with Israel.

    Over 970 Palestinians have been killed in the 19-day-old Operation Cast Lead. Rising along with the death toll is the anti-Israel sentiment among Israeli Arabs and the Jewish state's Arab neighbors.

    On Tuesday, an Israeli Border Police patrol was reportedly attacked by gunfire from the Jordanian side of the Israel-Jordan border, two days after a gunman fired at Israeli troops from the Syrian side of the Israel-Syria border. No one was injured in the two cross-border shooting incidents.