Toll of kids rises to 14 in Rafah strike

Palestinians mourn over the bodies of relatives after they were unearthed from the Nasser hospital compound in Khan Yunis in Gaza on Sunday. Pics/AFP

Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 18 people, including 14 children, health officials said on Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to its close ally.

Palestinians inspect the damage to a street after a raid by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on Sunday

Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the US. The House of Representatives approved a USD 26 billion aid package that includes around USD 9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

The first strike killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies. The woman was pregnant, and the doctors managed to save the baby, the hospital said.

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