Tel Aviv/Beirut, 7 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday said it has struck Hamas targets in southern Lebanon after coming under heavy attack from rockets fired from its northern neighbour.

"The IDF struck targets including terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas in southern Lebanon," the Israeli army said in a tweet.

"The IDF will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon & hold the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory," it added.

A Lebanese security source told dpa that at least three explosions were heard around dawn on Friday after Israeli jets targeted a field in the outskirts of the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.

A witness in the area told dpa the strikes near the camp had caused panic among residents in Tyre. He added that there were no reports of casualties but windows of some buildings near the targeted area were shattered.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission UNIFIL called on everyone involved to stop the attacks.

"Both sides have said they do not want a war," the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which monitors security at the Lebanese border with Israel, said in a statement.

The UN peacekeeping mission said that it was in contact with both countries, which are officially at war.

"The actions over the past day are dangerous and risk a serious escalation," it said.

The Israeli strikes came after 36 missiles were launched from Lebanon into Israel on Thursday, according to the army, marking one of the biggest attacks since 2006.

It was unclear who or which group was behind the rocket launches but Israel believes militant Palestinians in Lebanon are responsible.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a tough response on Thursday evening. "We will strike our enemies and they will pay the price for any act of aggression," he said at the start of a security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the rocket fire from Lebanon into northern Israel during a meeting with Italian Defence Minister Guido Cruzetto upon his arrival in Lebanon late Thursday.

"Lebanon absolutely rejects any military escalation emanating from its land, and the use of Lebanese territory to carry out operations that may destabilize the existing stability," Mikati said.

The Israeli army first attacked targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night. Palestinian eyewitnesses said shells and rockets were fired from the coastal area, which is controlled by the militant Hamas organization, into southern Israel following the Israeli shelling.

The escalation came after Israeli security forces clashed with Palestinians at a Jerusalem holy site during a convergence of Islamic and Jewish holidays.

The Noble Sanctuary, or al-Haram al-Sharif, is the third holiest site in Islam. To the Jews it is known as the Temple Mount, where both of Judaism's ancient temples once stood.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is under way and Wednesday marked the beginning of the major Jewish holiday of Passover.

Muslims come to the Noble Sanctuary to pray during Ramadan. Jews meanwhile traditionally make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover.

The sensitive hilltop holy site is under Muslim administration, while Israel is responsible for security.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday and met with Palestinian factions in Beirut on Thursday, warned Israel against what he described as a "brutal aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the worshippers."

Haniyeh said that "the resistance factions will not stand idle in front of this brutal aggression."

Photo: MIA archive