Israeli strikes on Rafah kill 13, as Gaza death toll surpasses 34,000

Israeli attacks on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza killed 13 people overnight, including nine children, health officials said Sunday.

The first Israeli strike late Saturday killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, the Associated Press reported. The second strike killed eight children and two women, it said. An airstrike in Rafah the night before left nine people dead, including six children.

The fresh attacks in southern Gaza come as the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has climbed to more than 34,000 Palestinians killed, according to local health officials, the AP reported. The conflict has devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and left a swath of destruction across the besieged enclave.

The lastest strikes came within hours after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to provide Israel with $26.3 billion in assistance. The measure, which includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, now goes back to the Senate, which about 10 weeks ago cleared legislation with nearly identical aid to Israel.

The House bill will now get bundled with three other measures. The Senate will receive them as a single package that includes aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, along with new sanctions, a TikTok ban and U.S. power to freeze Russian assets.

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 U.S.