A Hezbollah fighter and a member of the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) were killed in the air raids Sunday. At least six were also wounded in the attack including civilians.

The attacks from Lebanon left two Israeli soldiers wounded. One soldier was lightly wounded in the initial rocket attack near Safed, which lies between the borders and the Sea of Galilee, while another soldier was wounded by a Hezbollah sniper according to reports.

A statement by the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said it had fired the rockets to avenge the death of one of its leaders in a car bomb attack in Lebanon on Friday that it blamed on Israel. But a Jihad spokesman later said the statement was "false".

The Lebanese government denounced the assassination of the Islamic Jihad Leader Mahmoud Majzoub and his brother Nidal and said the attack carried "the fingerprints of the Israeli occupation"

The rocket attacks from Lebanon hit deeper into Israeli territory than ever before. Residents of the northern Israeli towns of Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya were ordered into shelters for several hours.

"Israel has no interest in an escalation on the northern border, but will know how to hurt those who try to hurt its citizens even more," Defense Minister Amir Peretz told Israeli radio Monday.

"The response was determined and unequivocal and the message was understood," he said. "Israel will do everything in order to lead to calm and quiet on the northern border."

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced what he called the "enemy's aggression" and called on the international community to force Israel to withdraw from the disputed Shebaa Farms area, blaming the worsening situation on the frontier on "continuing Israeli occupation".

A Hezbollah statement also charged that the Israeli bombardments "constitute a flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty."

Shebaa was seized from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Arab Israeli war but is now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus's consent. But Syria has refused demarcation of the Shebaa area as long as it is occupied by Israel.

Between six to eight rockets were fired from Lebanon during the day, the Israeli military said, and Hezbollah also claimed to have bombed the Israeli army's border headquarters although no damage was reported.

Israel warplanes launched eight raids against bases of the pro-Syrian PFLP-GC and Hezbollah bases in southern and eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria. One raid targeted a PFLP-GC base in Na'ameh just 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Beirut, triggering panic among motorists on a busy nearby highway, police said.

PFLP-GC leader Ahmad Jibril, in an interview published in the Lebanese daily Al-Balad on Sunday, said his group was coordinating its anti-Israeli military action with Hezbollah.

U.N. peacekeepers later said they had brokered a ceasefire, and calm appeared to have returned to the area by early evening.

"Following intensive contacts with all parties throughout Sunday, UNIFIL has succeeded in obtaining a ceasefire which should take effect on the ground," Milos Strugel, spokesman for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, told reporters.

Border area remains tense

Despite the cease fire that was arranged by UNIFIL, the border area will remain tense. The only solution according to observers in the area is for Israel to pull out of Shebaa area.

Once Israel pulls out then Hezbollah will be able to merge into the Lebanese army which will then be able to exercise complete authority throughout Lebanon. This is the reason why Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has called on the international community to pressure Israel to withdraw from the disputed Shebaa Farms area, blaming the worsening situation on the frontier on "continuing Israeli occupation"

A UN observer is checking on the status of the ceasefire that was arranged by UNIFIL

Hezbollah fighters carry the coffin of their colleague Youssef Mohammed Alaeddine during his funeral

Sisters of slain Hezbollah fighter Youssef Mohammed Alaeddine, 36, who was killed Sunday by Israeli raids, mourn during his funeral procession, in the village of Toul, near Nabatiyeh in south Lebanon
Source: Ya Libnan, Agencies