Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon kills at least 21 people

An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

The Israeli military has not commented on the strike and it remains unclear what their target was.

The strike hit a small apartment building that housed displaced families in the village of Aito. The village is part of the country’s Christian heartland in the north and far from the Hezbollah militant group’s main areas of influence in the south and east.

Earlier this month, Israel warned 27 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of the Awali River. “Save your lives,” the instructions said.

The evacuation notices share stark similarities with those Israel issued to Gazan civilians. The warnings usually instruct people to leave their homes immediately and are followed by overnight strikes.

The UN’s human rights division says a quarter of Lebanese territory is under displacement orders. At least 1.2 million people have been displaced so far in Lebanon, the Lebanese government says.

Amnesty International is also critical of Israel’s practice of issuing evacuation orders. It “raises questions around whether this is intended to create the conditions for mass displacement,” Secretary General Agnes Callamard said.

Israel dramatically expanded its aerial campaign, and as a result, Lebanese people have been receiving daily warnings about upcoming airstrikes. However human rights groups say Israel’s warnings, which aren’t issued before many airstrikes, are inadequate and sometimes misleading.

Attack on a hospital triggers fire at tent camp

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike on the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza triggered a fire at a nearby tent camp, killing four people. The fire set ablaze tents in a camp where displaced Palestinians sought shelter, and left more than two dozen with severe burns.

The Israeli military claimed they were targeting Hamas militants hiding among the crowd, without providing evidence.

Several other explosions were heard following the initial strike, although it is unclear whether these were caused by weapons or fuel tanks.

The hospital was already struggling to treat a large number of people wounded in an earlier strike on a school-turned-shelter, which killed 20 people.