Israel fires dozens of shells at Lebanon following rocket attack

April 25 (UPI) -- Israeli tanks fired dozens of artillery shells at targets in southern Lebanon early Monday in retaliation for a rocket launched from the neighboring Mediterranean country into northern Israel, officials said.

The Israel Defense Force announced the attack in a statement, saying shells targeted "open areas" in Lebanon near where a rocket was fired at Israeli earlier Sunday night.

An unidentified infrastructure target was hit in the attack, it said.

Videos and photos of the attack by Israel were posted on the IDF's website and social media showing tanks volleying shots across its border with Lebanon.

The IDF said the barrage was in retaliation for a rocket fired from southern Lebanon that landed near Mazuva, a kibbutz in northern Israel.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon confirmed the rocket launch into Israel and that Israel had returned fire.

UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Aroldo Lazaro "urges calm and restraint in this violative and ongoing situation," the U.N.'s peacekeeping force near the border said in a statement.

The IDF launched its attack into Lebanon amid rising tensions between Israelis and Palestinians that have erupted into violence in recent weeks.

The military has launched at least two airstrikes into Gaza in the past week in response to rockets launched from the Palestinian-controlled area into Israel.

The attacks were first in months but were conducted after more than 150 people were injured in confrontations wit police a a holy site in Jerusalem.

Last summer, the IDF also fired retaliatory artillery shells at Lebanon.