(Adds Barak remarks, pvs JERUSALEM)

By Benny Dagan

SHLOMI, Israel, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Two rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Tuesday, causing damage but no casualties, Israeli police and military officials said.

The salvo against the border town of Shlomi jarred Israel, which came under rocket barrages from Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas during a 2006 war and is on high alert ahead of a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush that begins on Wednesday.

"Two Katyusha rockets were fired into northern Israel last night from Lebanon," police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman, who earlier said the blasts in Shlomi may have been caused by the detonation of leftover ordnance, later agreed with the police conclusions.

In Beirut, Hezbollah declined comment, while a Lebanese army spokesman said he would "have nothing to do with conflicting Israeli reports".

The UNIFIL peacekeeping force said it was investigating.

Violence on the border has been rare since Israeli forces overran Hezbollah strongholds in the 2006 offensive. The war led to the expansion of the U.N. peacekeeping force as well as the deployment of a Lebanese army garrison along the frontier.

"This event is a grave aberration. We do not intend to allow for the status quo in the region to be changed," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement. "We will study what happened, think, decide, and do what needs to be done."

Several Palestinian militant groups have a presence in Lebanon and have at times launched attacks across the border. Bush's visit aims to encourage peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Shlomi Mayor Gabi Naaman told Israel's Army Radio that the rocket landings took place during an overnight rainstorm and that residents mistook the explosions for thunderclaps. The rocket fragments were discovered after daybreak, he said.

Last June, two Katyusha rockets launched from Lebanon struck the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona. No one was hurt. Hezbollah denied involvement, and Israeli and Lebanese officials said they suspected Palestinian militants fired the rockets. (Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki in Beirut, Writing by Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Editing by Diana Abdallah)

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