Lebanon Reports 21 Dead in Israeli Air Strike on Northern Village
A rare Israeli air strike in northern Lebanon has left at least 21 people dead and eight others wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The attack struck a residential building in Aitou, a predominantly Christian village, far from the usual conflict zones where Israeli forces have been targeting Hezbollah strongholds.
Local residents said the building had been home to a family recently displaced by the conflict, which has intensified across the region. There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military regarding the strike.
The air raid comes in the wake of a firm statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who pledged to continue striking Hezbollah “mercilessly” throughout Lebanon, including in its capital, Beirut. “Everything is based on operational needs. We have shown this recently and will continue to do so in the coming days,” he declared during a visit to a military base in northern Israel.
This visit followed a deadly drone attack by Hezbollah that killed four Israeli soldiers and injured many others at the Golani Brigade training facility near Binyamina. The Israeli military is investigating how the drone was able to bypass its air defense systems.
This drone assault is considered one of Hezbollah’s most deadly actions in over a year of border skirmishes, triggered by the ongoing Gaza conflict. Hezbollah has claimed it was retaliating for Israeli attacks that have devastated southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese health ministry reports nearly 1,700 casualties in the last month.
Most of the recent Israeli air strikes have been concentrated in the Shia-majority south and the Bekaa Valley, areas known for Hezbollah’s influence. However, the strike on Aitou, a Maronite Christian community in the mountains near Tripoli, came as a shock.
“There was no warning,” said a shaken local. “Just a single, overwhelming explosion.”
Rescue workers arrived on the scene to find bodies amidst the debris. Eyewitnesses said several families, displaced from the south, had recently sought refuge in the village, and the house that was hit had been rented by newcomers just two weeks prior.
A Lebanese security source told AFP that the building was hit shortly after a man arrived in a car. The health ministry is now conducting DNA tests to identify the victims.
In a separate strike on Monday, the Israeli military announced it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit, part of the elite Radwan Force, in the southern region of Nabatieh. Hezbollah has yet to confirm this report.
The Israeli military also claimed responsibility for targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers that had fired a series of rockets into central and northern Israel on Monday. While most of these were intercepted or landed in open areas, one woman in the northern town of Karmiel sustained minor injuries. Additionally, debris from an interception fell near Holon, south of Tel Aviv, but caused no casualties or damage.
