ISRAEL launched a missile attack on southern Lebanon early today, just hours after air strikes had targeted Iranian forces near the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The Israeli army claimed that it was responding to four rockets launched from Lebanon that triggered warning sirens in the Western Galilee region.

No details were given of the targets of the Israeli missiles, but there have been weeks of speculation that Israel was considering a military intervention in Lebanon to diminish the influence of Hezbollah.