Tue January 8, 2008

*Barrage of Rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon*

    * Story Highlights
    * NEW: One rocket landed on a house patio, but there were no reports
of injuries
    * Rockets fired from Lebanon last struck Israel in June 2007
    * Hundreds of rockets hit Israel during summer 2006 war with Hezbollah

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Two Katyusha rockets were fired into northern Israel
from Lebanon on Monday night, an Israeli police spokesman said.

It's the first time in more than six months that such a rocket has been
fired from Lebanon into Israel.

Israeli munitions experts have examined the rockets, which landed in the
northern city of Shlomi, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

One rocket landed on a house patio and the other near a road, but there
were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Katyusha rockets have a range of up to 25 km (15 miles) -- much longer
than the more crude Qassam rockets, which are more commonly fired from
Gaza into Israel.

A spokesman for militant group Hezbollah said he could not confirm if
his organization was responsible.

A spokesman for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon and a Lebanese Army
spokesman both said they had conflicting information and could not
confirm a rocket launch from southern Lebanon.

Hundreds of Katyusha rockets pounded Israel during its war with
Hezbollah militants in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, which ended with a
cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.

The last time Katyusha rockets struck Israel from Lebanon was last June.
Hezbollah denied launching them.

The rocket launches come just ahead of President Bush's visit to Israel,
which begins Wednesday morning.