Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, the United Nations demanded an "independent and thorough" investigation into an Israeli airstrike that killed 22 people in northern Lebanon.

Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated during a press briefing in Geneva that “22 people were killed, including 12 women and two children, in the airstrike that hit a four-story building in the Christian town of Ayto, in Zgharta district, on Monday.”

The Lebanese authorities had initially reported 21 deaths on Monday.

Laurence expressed serious concerns, saying, "Given these factors, we have genuine concerns regarding international humanitarian law, specifically the laws of war and the principles of distinction and proportionality."

This marks the first time the northern region of Lebanon, typically unaffected by Israeli airstrikes, has been targeted. Israeli attacks have predominantly focused on Hezbollah strongholds in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut.

A photographer from AFP reported seeing a residential building at the town's entrance leveled to the ground, with bloodstains scattered across the site. Human remains were seen strewn over a wide area, and the Red Cross worked to recover the bodies.

Hezbollah opened a “support front” for Gaza on October 8, 2023, following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas after the latter launched an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel.

The daily cross-border shelling, ongoing for nearly a year, escalated into a full-scale conflict starting September 23, 2024.

It is noteworthy that Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist militant group, is designated as a terrorist organization by Germany, the European Union, the United States, and other nations.

Majority of Victims Were Women and Children

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights revealed, on Tuesday, that most of the casualties from the Israeli airstrike on a building in northern Lebanon were women and children.

In response to a question about the attack on Ayto, Laurence said during a press conference in Geneva, "We are hearing that among the dead were 12 women and two children."

He added, "We know the strike hit a four-story residential building. Taking these factors into account, we have serious concerns regarding compliance with international humanitarian law, the laws of war, and the principles of distinction, proportionality, and necessity." He called for a full investigation into the incident.