BEIRUT (AP) An Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 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, which is part of the countrys Christian heartland in the north and far from the Hezbollah militant groups main areas of influence in the south and east.

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 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.