9 killed

9 killed after Israeli strike on Christian-majority village in northern Lebanon, health ministry says

From CNN’s Charbel Mallo and Nadeen Ebrahim

Nine people were killed and one was injured after an Israeli strike hit the northern Lebanese village of Aitou Monday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, adding that rescue operations and debris removal are still ongoing.

This is the first occasion the village has been struck since the current war began a year ago, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

“A military aircraft launched a raid, for the first (time) since the beginning of the Israeli aggression, on a residential apartment in the town of Aitou,” NNA reported Monday.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Aitou is almost 100 kilometers (or about 62 miles) north of Beirut. The village sits in the Zgharta District in northern Lebanon, with a predominantly Christian population.