There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Israel responded with artillery fire into south Lebanon, witnesses said.

'Three rockets fired into Israel landed outside the city of Kiryat Shmona,' police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

A fire brigade spokesman in northern Israel said the rockets landed in fields and no one was hurt.

Security sources in Lebanon said five rockets were fired but two fell short of the Israeli border.

Last Thursday, three rockets that Israeli officials said were launched by Palestinian guerrillas in Lebanon in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip slammed into northern Israel, wounding two people.

That attack briefly raised fears that guerrillas in Lebanon might open a second front against Israel, which launched an offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on Dec 27.

But Israeli cabinet ministers said last week's rocket strike appeared to be an isolated incident. -- REUTERS