Rocket attack on Israel violates U.N. pact: Lebanon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese government said on Thursday a rocket attack on Israel from south Lebanon violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that halted a 2006 war between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.

Arriving for an emergency cabinet meeting, Labour Minister Mohammed Fneish, an official of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, told journalists the military and political group was not involved.

There were no claims of responsibility for the attack, which provoked a salvo of artillery shells into south Lebanon from Israel in response.

At least three rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel, wounding two people. The attack was seen as linked to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in a statement asked for closer cooperation with United Nations peacekeepers in south Lebanon to "prevent a repeat of these acts."

"Prime Minister Siniora regards what happened in the south as a violation of the international Resolution 1701 and something he does not accept and rejects," the statement said, adding that he had called for an investigation into the attack.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 halted the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel. Under the resolution, the Lebanese army deployed in the south of the country together with thousands of additional U.N. peacekeepers.

(Reporting by Tom Perry and Yara Bayoumy; editing by Michael Roddy)