No fewer than 21 people were killed and eight others injured in a rare Israeli air strike that hit a residential building in northern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The strike targeted the village of Aitou, a predominantly Christian area far from the conflict zones where the Israeli military has focused most of its operations against Hezbollah, the armed Shia Islamist group.
Residents of Aitou, located near the coastal city of Tripoli, reported that the building struck was housing a family recently displaced by the war in southern Lebanon.
There was no warning before the strike, which caused widespread devastation in the small Maronite Christian community.
The Israeli military has not commented on the incident. However, the airstrike occurred amid escalating rhetoric from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to continue striking Hezbollah “without mercy” across Lebanon, including Beirut.
His remarks came during a visit to a northern Israeli military base, where a Hezbollah drone attack killed four Israeli soldiers and wounded dozens.
The drone strike, which targeted a training facility of the Golani Brigade, has been one of Hezbollah’s deadliest attacks on Israel in over a year of cross-border fighting, ignited by the ongoing war in Gaza.
Hezbollah said the drone attack was a direct response to the deadly Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, which have killed nearly 1,700 people over the past month, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Most Israeli strikes have focused on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, as well as the suburbs of Beirut.
The attack on Aitou, however, marked a significant departure, as the village had not been a previous target in the conflict.
Eyewitnesses described the devastation in the village, with bodies scattered amidst smoke and rubble. The house that was hit had been rented out to new residents just two weeks before the attack, including families displaced by the conflict in the south.
A Lebanese security source told AFP that the building was struck shortly after a man arrived in a car. DNA tests are being conducted to identify the remains recovered from the scene.
While Israeli military operations have mainly focused on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, there have been incidents involving UN peacekeepers. On Monday, a UN spokesperson for the Interim Force in Lebanon stated that its peacekeepers would remain in their positions despite calls by Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
The UN Security Council has expressed concern over the safety of UN troops injured during Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Israel claimed to have killed the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit in a strike on Nabatieh, though Hezbollah has not commented on the report.
Hezbollah responded by launching around 115 projectiles into Israel on Monday. Most were intercepted, but one woman was lightly injured in Karmiel, and debris from an interception fell near Tel Aviv, causing no damage.
In retaliation, the Israeli Defense Forces launched more than 200 airstrikes across southern and central Lebanon over the past day.
The strikes targeted Hezbollah infrastructure, missile launchers, and terrorist cells, according to the IDF, and were coordinated with ground troops in southern Lebanon.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate, with both sides inflicting significant casualties and damage.
As the war spreads to areas previously untouched by the violence, the humanitarian toll in Lebanon continues to rise.
