At least 18 killed after Israeli strike on Christian-majority region of Aitou in north Lebanon

Israel expanded operations in Lebanon nearly a year after Hezbollah began exchanging fire in support of its ally, Hamas, following the Palestinian group's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. (File/AFP)
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BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 18 people, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military and it was not clear what the target was. The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aito, far from the Hezbollah militant group’s main strongholds in the south and east of the country.

The strike came a day after a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in northern Israel killed four soldiers — all of them 19 years old — and severely wounded seven others in the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

A total of 61 people were wounded in Sunday’s attack. Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel over the past year but most have been intercepted or hit in open areas, disrupting daily life but causing few casualties.