THE Lebanese Red Cross says an Israeli air strike on a residential building in northern Lebanon has killed at least 18 people.

The attack on the block of flats in the village of Aito came hours after the European Union slammed Israeli attacks on United Nations peacekeepers.

On Sunday a Hezbollah aerial attack on an army base in northern Israel killed four soldiers and severely wounded seven others, the Israeli military said.

It was the deadliest strike by Hezbollah since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

Hezbollah called the attack near Binyamina city retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people. It said it targeted Israel’s elite Golani brigade, launching dozens of missiles to occupy Israeli air defence systems during the assault by drones.

Israel’s national rescue service said the attack wounded 61. It’s rare for so many people to be wounded by drones or missiles, most of which are intercepted by Israel’s multitiered air defences or fall in open areas.

The European Union also joined nations in condemning Israeli attacks on the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Brussels also rejected Israeli allegations that the UN was keeping them there to obstruct military operations against Hezbollah.

Five peacekeepers have been wounded in attacks by Israeli forces that struck their positions in recent days.

Sixteen EU countries are contributing to the Unifil peacekeeping force. 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that “their work is very important. It’s completely unacceptable attacking UN troops.”

Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah after a year of exchanges of fire, while it is also at war with Hamas in Gaza.

Speaking in Luxembourg before chairing talks between EU foreign ministers, Mr Borrell underlined that the UN security council decides whether Unifil should be moved, “so stop blaming [UN secretary-general Antonio] Guterres.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah called for Unifil to heed Israel’s warnings to evacuate, accusing it of “providing a human shield” to Hezbollah. 

In a video addressed to Mr Guterres, who has been banned from entering Israel, Mr Netanyahu told the UN chief “to get (Unifil) out of the danger zone.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, whose country is one of Europe’s strongest backers of Israel, said the attacks were “simply unacceptable” and that Unifil will not be leaving.

“No, they will not withdraw. Yes, they will continue to fulfil the mandate. And yes, we demand of each and every party to respect this mandate and respect the security and safety of our blue helmets,” he told reporters.