Israeli strike kills 18 in northern Lebanon as Hezbollah steps up attacks

At least 18 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike that hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon, the Lebanese Red Cross has said.

“Eighteen dead and four wounded in the strike on Aito,” the Red Cross said on Monday, referring to the Aitou village in the Christian-majority Zgharta district.

The official Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli attack targeted a “residential apartment” in the village.

It’s the first time the area was attacked in a year of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, according to NNA.

Hezbollah is mainly present in the south of the country and the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Videos from Lebanese media showed a large plume of smoke rising from the hilly village, with several destroyed cars next to a severely damaged building, as people tried to remove bodies from beneath rubble and trees.

The strike came a day after a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in northern Israel killed four soldiers and wounded dozens of others.

It was the deadliest known Hezbollah attack since the Israeli military escalated the war in recent weeks, drastically expanding its bombardment across Lebanon and launching a ground offensive in the south. More than one million people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the fighting, according to Lebanese officials.

On Monday, Hezbollah said its fighters battled with Israeli soldiers in the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab. According to a statement, Hezbollah fighters targeted an armoured personnel carrier with a guided missile. The vehicle caught fire and soldiers inside were killed and wounded, it said, without providing evidence.

The Iran-aligned group also said it fired rockets towards the city of Haifa in northern Israel. The Israeli army said most of the projectiles were intercepted.

Sirens were also activated in central Israel’s Sharon and Wadi Ara areas on Monday. A military statement said all of the rockets were launched from Lebanon and were shot down by the country’s air defences.

Separately on Monday, the Israeli military also claimed it killed Muhammad Kamal Naim, the commander of the anti-tank system of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, in an air strike in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

Attacks on UN peacekeepers ‘totally unacceptable’

Meanwhile, the European Union has joined a chorus of international condemnation over several Israeli attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in recent days.

“Such attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable,” a statement said.

“We urgently await explanations and a thorough investigation from the Israeli authorities about the attacks against UNIFIL, which plays a fundamental role in the stability of south Lebanon.”

The force, which involves about 9,500 troops from some 50 nations led by a Spanish general, has in recent days reported multiple Israeli attacks that injured five of its troops and sparked widespread criticism.

UNIFIL said on Sunday that Israeli tanks forced entry at one of its positions, the latest in a series of violations and attacks by Israeli forces on the peacekeepers.

Israeli officials have urged the UN peacekeepers to leave their positions, but Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that there would be “no withdrawal” of UNIFIL from southern Lebanon. He called on the EU to respond to Spain and Ireland’s request to suspend a free trade deal over Israel’s relentless attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.

The Republic of Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin also accused Israel of undermining the UN and its peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

“On the Middle East and on the remarks of Prime Minister Netanyahu in respect of the UN, Israel is essentially now undermining the United Nations and the United Nations peacekeeping force with the very rules-based international order,” Martin said.

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from Hasbaiyya in southern Lebanon, said Sunday’s attack on the UNIFIL base was “extremely serious”.

“They used a tank to burst down a gate and then launched bombs that were chemical in nature – as the injuries to the peacekeepers suggest,” Khan said.

He added: “Getting rid of an observer force would make the international community blind to what’s happening. This is very concerning for the Lebanese army and the United Nations.”

Israel and Hezbollah began trading near-daily fire in October 2023 after Israel launched its continuing assault on Gaza. More than 2,100 people have been killed in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, according to Lebanese authorities, mostly over the past few weeks since Israel escalated its attacks.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies