Saad Hariri stepped down as prime minister-designate on Thursday [EPA]

No one was hurt in the incident on Friday afternoon.

The mortars were fired from the village of Qalayil and landed in the western Galilee region, police said.

Israel responded by firing at least eight rockets at Qalayil, 9km from the port city of Tyre.

The exchange occurred one day after Saad Harriri announced that he was stepping down as Lebanese prime minister-designate. The opposition had rejected his cabinet proposals.

Some analysts had worried that the absence of a government in Lebanon could lead to a power vacuum and a deteriorating security situation.

Israel fought a month-long war in 2006 against Hezbollah, a group originally set up to fight Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and which maintains strong support among Lebanon's Shia Muslims.

Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for firing Friday's rockets.

Palestinian factions in southern Lebanon have previously been suspected of firing rockets into Israel.

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