30 rockets fired at N. Israel from Lebanon: state media

JERUSALEM - A barrage of 30 rockets was launched from Lebanon at northern Israel on Thursday, local media reported, in a major escalation triggered by two consecutive days of Israeli raids at East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported that at least 30 rockets were fired at the Galilee region in northern Israel. Five of them hit roads and buildings and the rest were intercepted by Israel's aerial defense systems.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement that a man was injured by shrapnel and needed hospital care.

The airspace in northern Israel and an airport serving domestic flights have been closed to civil aviation, the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear which group was behind the fire.

Hezbollah on Thursday denied firing missiles from Lebanon into northern Israel, Lebanese local TV channel MTV reported.

Lebanese media reported Israel responded with artillery and airstrikes but the Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports.

This was one of the worst rocket fires at northern Israel since the full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese group, in 2006.

The incident came hours after Israeli police forces raided for a second consecutive day the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem's Old City, firing gas canisters and stun grenades at worshipers.

Militants in the Gaza Strip responded to the raids with rocket fire at southern Israel, which did not cause injuries.