Israeli Strikes in Rafah Claim 13 Lives, Including Nine Children - Latest Updates

Israeli Strikes in Rafah Claim 13 Lives: As the United States approved billions in additional military aid, Israel struck Rafah in the southern Gaza city, killing 13 people, including nine children.

More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents live in Rafah, where Israel conducts almost daily air raids.

It has vowed to expand its ground offensive to the Egyptian border city despite international calls for restraint.

House of Representatives approved a $26 billion aid package on Saturday, including $9 billion for Gaza.

As Kuwaiti Hospital reported, the first strike killed a man, his wife, and their 3-year-old child. The woman was pregnant, so the baby was saved.

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Hospital records show that eight children and two women died in the second strike, all from the same family. Nine people, including six children, were killed in an airstrike in Rafah the night before.

According to local health officials, the Israel-Hamas war has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, ravaged Gaza's two largest cities and ravaged the entire country.

Around 80% of the population of the besieged coastal enclave has died.

There's also an increase in tensions in the West Bank. A checkpoint near the southern West Bank town of Hebron was attacked by two Palestinians with knives and guns early Sunday, and Israeli forces "neutralized" them. It's unclear if they were killed. Israeli forces weren't injured.

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After hours of talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on April 20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked Palestinians to unite in Gaza, AFP reported his office as saying. An overnight explosion at an Iraqi military base resulted in one death and eight injuries, according to AFP reports.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 469 Palestinians in the West Bank. Often, they were killed during raids by the Israeli army, which resulted in gunfights, or during violent protests.

The blast was reported to have hit the Kalsu military base in Babylon province, south of Baghdad, which is home to regular army units, police officers, and members of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi.

On October 7, Hamas and other militants killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 hostages in southern Israel. In addition to the remains of more than 30 others, militants still hold more than 100 hostages.

In recent days, thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets calling for new elections to replace Benjamin Netanyahu and an agreement with Hamas to release hostages.

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