The IDF has warned that it will not allow further provocations on the northern border following a Hizbullah attack on Friday afternoon in which at least 12 mortar shells were fired at the Gladiola military post in Mount Dov.

No one was wounded in the barrage of mortar fire. The army responded with heavy artillery and tank fire at a Hizbullah position nearby. Later, IAF jets bombarded three additional Hizbullah targets.

Lebanese media reports said no one was wounded, but confirmed that several Hizbullah positions located near Mount Dov were hit, as well as civilian targets in at least two villages.

On Saturday, a tense calm prevailed as the IDF maintained a high state of alert along the northern border.

A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office said on Saturday Israel had no intention of being dragged into a "shooting war" on the northern border with Hizbullah, which he said was looking to justify its existence.

According to the official, the recent attacks from Lebanon – whether carried out by Hizbullah directly or by a proxy – were "provocations" meant to help Hizbullah's domestic situation in Lebanon.

"This is an organization in search of an excuse for its existence," the official said. "It has no reason to exist, no reason for it to continue. So it assumes the role of protector of Lebanon."

According to the official, the organization is concerned about UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of militias in Lebanon, and to keep this from happening it is provoking Israel.

"We will not be dragged into an escalation or a shooting war with Hizbullah," the official said. "But we will find a way to stop these terror attacks."

The attack on IDF posts on Friday was the third attack launched from southern Lebanon since Wednesday night, when a Katyusha rocket landed in the industrial zone of Shlomi in the western Galilee, extensively damaging a bakery.

On Thursday night, explosions shook IDF posts in the Mount Dov area. Later, the army confirmed that at least two rockets were fired at the positions.

The United States on Friday issued a statement expressing deep concern over the escalation and urged both Israel and Lebanon to maintain restraint.

OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz told reporters on Friday, "What is most important at this stage is that there is a government in Beirut; Lebanon is obliged by the United Nations not to allow the Hizbullah or other terror organizations to act. If we have to respond, we will respond."

While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz both stressed that Israel was not interested in an escalation along the northern border, Gantz noted that there were various groups operating inside Lebanon, and the Lebanese government was doing nothing to stop them. "This is not good for Lebanon and it is definitely not good for us," he said.

Hizbullah's Al-Manar television said Friday's attack was in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory including a hit on civilian houses near the Shaba Farms. The television report said its activists scored a direct hit on an Israeli position. The Hizbullah issued a statement saying, "The Islamic Resistance warns the Zionist enemy that any attack on civilians will be met with the appropriate response."

The United States said it was deeply concerned about the recent violence.

"We call on all parties to immediately cease all attacks and to exercise calm and restraint. This is an especially sensitive and critical time for the Lebanese people, who will be voting in parliamentary elections beginning on May 29," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Friday.

"This opportunity for reaffirming democracy in Lebanon must not be undermined by militias pursuing their own agendas."

Boucher also called on "all militias in Lebanon, including Hizbullah, to disarm and disband." He said, "The Lebanese government must extend and exercise its sole and exclusive control over all the Lebanese territory."