WASHINGTON – The United States on Thursday condemned the launch of rockets into northern Israel from Lebanon and stressed it did not want to see a second front open up in the Gaza war.

"We condemn the attack that took place into Israel," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters, referring to the four rockets that slammed into northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday.

"It is clearly a violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701," which helped bring an end to the devastating 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran.

"We definitely do not want to see this conflict widen," Wood added.

He said that as part of her diplomatic push for a resolution of the Gaza crisis, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made at least seven phone calls to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Wednesday and that the two top diplomats may have discussed the rocket attacks from Lebanon into Israel.

Wood also said he believed Israel "showed some restraint" in its minimal return of fire into Lebanon, saying the army in the past has used heavier firepower to counter attacks from north of the border.

Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the attack that sowed panic on both sides of the tense border. Local police said the rockets lightly wounded two people. No group has claimed responsibility.

Israel says its blistering offensive into the Gaza Strip is aimed at rooting out Hamas militants who launch rockets into Israel. The incursion has left more than 760 Palestinians dead and sparked a humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian territory. -AFP