At least 21 killed in Israeli strike on Zgharta

At least 21 people were killed in a strike on north Lebanon Monday, with the health ministry and official media reporting an Israeli raid on the Christian-majority area far from Hezbollah strongholds.

"Eighteen dead and four wounded in the strike on Aito," the Red Cross said, referring to a village in the Christian-majority Zgharta district. The National News Agency said Israel targeted a "residential apartment" in the village.

The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aito, far from the Hezbollah's main strongholds in the south and east of the country.

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 61, 7 of them severely in the deadliest strike by the group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.