Violence flares in West Bank amid Gaza fighting

NUR SHAMS, West Bank/GAZA- Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 18 people, including 14 children, health officials said on Sunday, as the violence spilled into the West Bank.

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 United States.

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. The second strike killed 13 children and two women, all from the same family, according to hospital records. An airstrike in Rafah the night before killed nine people, including six children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced wide international opposition to the plan to attack Rafah, where the military says the last remaining organized brigades of Hamas are located and where the 133 remaining Israeli hostages are believed to be held.

The conflict, now in its seventh month, has sparked regional unrest, pitting Israel and the US against Iran and allied militant groups across the Middle East. Israel and Iran traded fire directly earlier this month, raising fears of all-out war between the longtime foes.

Tensions have also risen in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said troops "neutralized" two Palestinians who attacked a checkpoint with a knife and a gun near the southern West Bank town of Hebron early on Sunday. It was not immediately clear if they were killed. No Israeli forces were wounded.

At least 469 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Most have been killed during Israeli military arrest raids, which often trigger gunbattles, or in violent protests.

Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to call for new elections to replace Netanyahu and a deal with Hamas to release the hostages. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the US for stopping the United Nations from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto last week in the Security Council.

In an interview with the official Palestinian news agency WAFA,Abbas said the Palestinian Authority would reconsider bilateral relations with the US.

Agencies Via Xinhua