BEIRUT/HOULA, Lebanon: The firing of a rocket from south Lebanon toward Israel that fell short, seriously wounding a Lebanese woman, and a bomb attack on a UNIFIL patrol prompted warnings Monday from Lebanese leaders against using south Lebanon as a platform to settle scores with Western states that have stepped up pressure on Damascus to halt its crackdown on protesters.

In the meantime, Syria and Hezbollah denied Monday French accusations that they were behind last week’s attack which wounded five French soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Uneasy calm returned to the Lebanese-Israeli border following tension arising from a Katyusha rocket launched from south Lebanon toward Israel that fell short.

The Lebanese Army said a rocket fired from the outskirts of the village of Majdal Silim around midnight Sunday slammed into a house in the border village of Houla, seriously wounding a woman and causing heavy damage to the house.

An Army statement said that troops cordoned off the area where the rocket landed and intensified patrols in the place where the rocket was launched. A military committee has begun an investigation to determine its circumstances and apprehend the perpetrators, the statement said.

Israeli warplanes flew over several towns and villages in the south, leaving plumes of white smoke that covered the sky in the area. The Israeli flights lasted more than three hours. Israeli warplanes and drones frequently fly over Lebanon but Monday’s intensive flights were linked to the rocket attack.

UNIFIL said in a statement that its radars detected firing of one rocket from the general area of Qaissiyeh Valley. The rocket impacted on a private home in Houla, causing serious injuries to a woman. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

UNIFIL is currently investigating on the ground to determine the facts and circumstances of the incident as well as to locate the launching site of the rocket fire, the statement said.

The firing of the rocket came nearly two weeks after rockets fired from the south hit northern Israel in the first such attack in two years, causing no casualties. The launch also came two days after the bomb attack on the French peacekeepers.

The rocket attacks and the bombing targeting UNIFIL troops come amid rising fears that the eight-month turmoil in Syria could spill over to Lebanon, where the rival Lebanese factions are sharply divided between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime.

While the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance supports Syrian President Bashar Assad, the opposition March 14 coalition led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement openly backs the Syrian popular uprising demanding Assad’s ouster.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt warned against sending what he called “a message of rockets” from Syria to France at the expense of Lebanon’s stability.

“Yesterday, we received a message of rockets which is a dangerous message. It could be a message from neighbors [Syria] to France on Lebanese territory at the expense of Lebanon’s stability and at the expense of the south and all Lebanon,” Jumblatt told a PSP ceremony in the town of Mukhtara in the Chouf mountains.

He said similar rocket attacks from the south had been blamed on Al-Qaeda.

“There are some at the local, regional, Arab and international levels who want to see the U.N. troops leave Lebanon in order to return for a confrontation and probably to a new war. I understand this [rocket] message only in this logic,” Jumblatt said.

The PSP leader, who has so far taken a neutral stance on the Syrian uprising, saluted the Syrian people in the restive cities of Deraa, Sanamayin and Homs, where anti-government protesters are active, calling for Assad’s ouster. “Shame on those who collaborate and those who fail to take an appropriate stance [on the Syrian crisis,” Jumblatt said.

Earlier Monday, Syria denied a French accusation that it was behind the attack on French peacekeepers.

“Syria has no link whatsoever with this act which we condemn,” Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi said in a statement that also criticized French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe for pointing a finger at Damascus. Makdisi said that “remarks by Mr. Juppe and others are within the framework of premeditated French accusations made to mask the reality concerning Syria.”

Hezbollah also denied involvement in the attack, saying it was surprised by Juppe’s remarks. “We condemn such statements which do not befit the foreign minister of an important country such as France,” Hezbollah said in a statement. It urged Juppe to correct his position and watch out for the “seriousness of such accusations which represent great injustice which we entirely reject.”

Juppe said Sunday that Syria was probably behind Friday’s bombing, adding however that so far he had no proof to back his claim. “We have strong reasons to think that this attack came from there [Syria],”Juppe told the TV5 Monde television channel and Le Monde newspaper. Juppe claimed that Syria had used Hezbollah for such attacks in the past. However, he said, “I don’t have proof.”

The five French peacekeepers were wounded when a bomb ripped through their vehicle as they traveled near the southern coastal city of Tyre. A passersby was also wounded. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the third this year on UNIFIL soldiers.

Meanwhile, UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas strongly condemned the rocket attack and expressed serious concern at the recent escalation of incidents involving serious security breaches in southern Lebanon.

“This is the third incident involving serious security breaches south of the Litani River in a period of two weeks,” Asarta said in a statement. “These instances show that despite all our efforts there continue to be weapons and hostile armed elements ready to use them within our area of operations.”

He was referring to Sunday’s rocket launch, the attack on French peacekeepers and the rockets that were fired on Nov. 29 from Lebanon into Israel, prompting a retaliatory strike by Israeli forces.

“One of the most important provisions of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 is to ensure that there are no armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL in the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River,” Asarta said.

He added that there was a clear need to enhance security measures in southern Lebanon and that UNIFIL was working in close cooperation with the Lebanese Army to prevent an escalation.

Praising the “excellent cooperation” with the Lebanese Army, Asarta, who met Monday with Army Commander General Jean Kahwagi at the UNIFIL headquarters in the town of Naqoura, said: “There is clearly a need for further enhancing security control in the area. Recent efforts by certain elements have been directed at destabilizing the area and we simply cannot allow such acts of violence that endanger the safety of the local population and the security of southern Lebanon.”