Israel shells south Lebanon after rocket attack

Israeli artillery has fired on areas of south Lebanon after two rockets were shot into Israel, the Israeli army has said.

"The Israel Defence Forces have responded with targeted artillery fire following the rockets that hit Israel earlier today from southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement on Sunday.

Two Katyusha-type rockets were fired from south Lebanon into Israel, a Lebanese security source said.

"Two Katyusha rockets were fired from a Lebanese village 5km from the border with Israel," the Lebanese source told the AFP news agency.

Israeli military sources told AFP that one rocket crashed into the Galilee region and the impact of another was heard. No casualties were reported.

The Lebanese national news agency NNA said Israel fired nine rounds of artillery at the south.

The rocket fire from the Hezbollah heartland of south Lebanon followed the killing of Samir Kantar, a militant in the Shia group notorious for the 1979 murder of three Israelis, including a four-year-old girl.

Hezbollah said the 54-year-old Kantar was killed in an Israeli air strike near the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday night. There was no confirmation from Israel that it was responsible for Kantar's killing.

Members of Hezbollah are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces against rebels who have been battling to remove him for nearly five years.