BEIRUT, Lebanon — A salvo of rockets launched into northern Israel on Thursday morning raised fears of a renewed war between Israel and the militant Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon, but those worries quickly subsided when it appeared that the attack came from one of several small Palestinian militant groups in the area.

Hezbollah quickly sought to assure the Lebanese government that it was not responsible for the two Katyusha rockets that wounded two people in the Israeli town of Nahariya, despite its leader’s harsh words for Israel in recent days.

But the attack added to existing anxieties in Lebanon and once again illustrated the precariousness of the truce along Israel’s northern border.

Several armed Palestinian factions have the ability to fire rockets and operate outside the control of either Hezbollah or the Lebanese government. And rank-and-file members of Hezbollah and allied Shiite militias have been agitating for Lebanese fighters to open up a northern campaign in response to Israel’s Gaza campaign.

“We want more fire,” said a burly young man who gave only his first name, Rabih, during a speech by Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Wednesday in Beirut. “We want the order to attack Israel directly. We’d like to start a war with Israel today. We’ve got to crush Israel.”

On Thursday morning, Israel said it fired five shells in a measured response to the rocket attack, and two hours later reported another series of rockets fired, which proved to be a false alarm.

Israel, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah all made moves that seemed calculated to preserve stability along the border. The Lebanese prime minister and several cabinet members condemned the attack, and the lone Hezbollah cabinet minister, Mohammed Fneish, distanced his party from the action.

“When Hezbollah does something, it announces it and has no problem doing so,” Mr. Fneish told reporters before entering a cabinet meeting.

Hezbollah has been trying to maintain a delicate balance.

To its followers on the street, the leadership has trumpeted Hezbollah’s unyielding resistance to Israel and solidarity with Hamas. To the Lebanese government, it has signaled that it will not pull the country into a war with Israel.

Despite claiming victory in 2006, Hezbollah has little appetite now for another destructive confrontation. And with an eye to impending elections in which it could make significant gains, it wants to seem like a responsible guardian of the national interest.

Hezbollah has largely restrained its fighters since the 2006 war. Palestinian factions operating in southern Lebanon have on occasion broken the calm along Israel’s northern border, including an episode on Dec. 25 when the Lebanese Army discovered a battery of rockets aimed at Israel and attached to a timer. The authorities in Lebanon blamed Palestinian militants.

Several small Palestinian factions operate in southern Lebanon and have the capacity to fire rockets into Israel. The leaders of Hamas and Fatah in Lebanon both quickly condemned Thursday’s rocket attack, saying they did not want to implicate the Lebanese state in a Palestinian conflict with Israel.

But an official from one of the more prominent and militant factions, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, did not deny responsibility for the attack.

“Don’t be surprised to see more rockets launched into northern Israel,” said Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the group. “It’s a normal response to Israel’s brutal aggression.”

Hezbollah operatives in the south may have turned a blind eye to a Palestinian faction that set up the rockets, said Timur Goksel, a professor and former United Nations official in Lebanon, who is a close observer of Hezbollah.

“Most Palestinian factions here are careful not to antagonize the Lebanese, but there are some who will do anything to show their solidarity with Gaza,” Mr. Goksel said.

Political analysts and some Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon said that Hezbollah would enter the war only if Hamas were on the verge of complete defeat.

“It’s a sensitive situation for Hezbollah,” Mr. Goksel said. “There’s a lot of grass-roots pressure on them to act, but I think they’ll do the smart thing and exhibit restraint.”

The Lebanese Army and United Nations peacekeepers said Thursday that they had stepped up patrols along the Israeli border. But many in Lebanon still worry that a small spark could rekindle hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.

“Lebanon does not want another war,” the Lebanese information minister, Tarek Mitri, told reporters this week. “We must remain vigilant not to be dragged into another conflict.” Ultimately, though, it is Hezbollah and its powerful militia that holds the cards in Lebanon; it entered the 2006 war with Israel over the objections of Lebanon’s Western-allied government.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.

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