Israeli strikes kill 18 children of same family in Rafah

Israeli air strikes targeted the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight, resulting in the deaths of 22 individuals, including 18 children from a same family, health officials reported Sunday. 

Meanwhile, the United States is poised to approve billions of dollars in additional military aid for its close ally, Israel.

Israel has conducted almost daily air raids on Rafah, a city that has become a refuge for over half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents fleeing conflict from other areas. 

Despite international calls for restraint, including from the US, Israel plans to broaden its ground offensive to the city on the Egyptian border.

On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed a $26 billion aid package, which includes approximately $9 billion for humanitarian aid in Gaza.

One strike killed a couple and their 3-year-old child, as reported by a nearby hospital. Although the pregnant woman died, doctors saved her baby.

Another strike took the lives of 17 children and two women from the same extended family. First responders continued to search through the rubble. An earlier air raid in Rafah took nine lives, six of them children.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians, as reported by local health officials, and has devastated Gaza’s two largest cities, causing widespread destruction. Around 80% of Gaza's population has been displaced, leading experts to warn of an impending famine.

The seven-month conflict has sparked regional tensions, pitting Israel and the US against Iran and allied militant groups across the Middle East. 

Earlier this month, Israel and Iran exchanged fire directly, raising concerns of a broader war between the two adversaries.