A residential building in northern Lebanon was hit by an Israeli airstrike today, an attack that killed 21 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the Lebanese Red Cross.
The strike hit a small residential building in the village of Aitu in the Christian part of Lebanon, which is far from the main areas of influence of the Hezbollah military group in the south and east of the country. The Israeli military has not yet responded to a request for comment on the incident, and it is unclear what the purpose of the attack was.
Footage released by Lebanese media showed a large plume of smoke rising over the small village, as well as several destroyed cars near a badly damaged building. People are trying to pull bodies out from under debris and fallen trees.
The strike came a day after Hezbollah carried out a drone attack on an army base in northern Israel, killing four soldiers – all 19 – and seriously wounding seven. It was the deadliest blow inflicted on Israel by the militant group since the start of Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant today informed his American counterpart Lloyd Austin about the deadly drone attack and vowed that Israel would give a “strong response”, reports BTA.
Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets and drones at Israel over the past year, killing more than 60 people, although most of the projectiles were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems or landed in open areas.
In Lebanon, some 2,300 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since last October, with more than three-quarters of the deaths in the past month.
Hezbollah is an ally of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and has vowed to continue its attacks on Israel until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. Israel has said its campaign against Hezbollah aims to stop these attacks so displaced Israelis can feel safe returning to their homes near the Lebanese border.