Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Sunday, on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, to "deliver additional and painful blows" on Hamas to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.
"In the coming days we will increase the military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages," Netanyahu said, without offering any details.
The Israeli army has said some of the hostages abducted during Hamas' October 7 attack in southern Israel were being held in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Later Sunday, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement, "The chief of staff has approved the next steps for the war." He did not provide specific information.
"On Passover, it will be 200 days of captivity for the hostages. ... We will fight until you return home to us," he said.
Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to unleash a military offensive on Rafah, claiming members of the terror group Hamas are holed up there. The threat comes despite calls for restraint from the international community, including from the United States — Israel's main ally.
Twenty-two people, including 18 children, were killed by Israeli strikes on Rafah overnight, officials said Sunday, as Israel vows to expand its ground offensive against Hamas militants in the city of 1.4 million people, most of them refugees.
The airstrikes killed a man, his pregnant wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti Hospital, which received the bodies. Doctors managed to safely deliver the baby from her dead mother's womb, the hospital said. Another, second strike killed 17 children and two women from an extended family.
Asked about the casualties in Rafah, an Israeli military spokesperson said various militant targets were struck in Gaza including military compounds, launch posts and armed people.
"Did you see one man in all of those killed?" said Saqr Abdel Aal, a Palestinian man whose family was among the dead, grieving over the body of a child in a white shroud.
"All are women and children," he said. "My entire identity has been wiped out, with my wife, children and everyone," the Reuters news agency reported.
Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million is sheltering after fleeing Israel's military assaults in other parts of the enclave.
Israel's latest strikes hit Gaza as U.S. lawmakers approved $26 billion in new Israeli aid, despite global criticism over the death toll in Gaza. The aid package includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid for the continuing crisis in Gaza.
The Palestinian health ministry said Sunday that in the past 24 hours, 48 Palestinians were killed, and 79 others wounded in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip.
More than 34,000 people have been killed and nearly 77,000 wounded in Israel's assault, Palestinian health authorities say, since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October.
West Bank
Israeli soldiers opened fire and killed three Palestinians Sunday in the occupied West Bank, where violence is raging.
The Israeli military said the three Palestinians attacked Israeli soldiers in two different locations. In the first incident, at a junction near the Palestinian city of Hebron, Israeli troops were shot at by one man, while another attempted to stab them, before the military opened fire on both individuals.
A Reuters cameraman saw a body at the scene of the incident. The official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, citing local sources, said ambulance crews were prevented from reaching the site. The two victims, aged 18 and 19, were later confirmed dead.
In the second incident, at a checkpoint farther north in the West Bank, the military said a woman tried to stab soldiers who then responded with live fire. She was later confirmed dead by health authorities.
Violence in the West Bank has escalated since the Israel-Hamas war started, with Israel's frequent army raids on militant groups, rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages, and deadly Palestinian street ambushes on Israeli soldiers.
Netanyahu said Sunday he would fight sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units for alleged rights violations in the West Bank, after media reports said Washington was planning such a step.
Axios news site reported Saturday that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel's Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has operated in the occupied West Bank, although the Israeli military said it was not aware of any such measures.
US announces sanctions
On Friday, the United States announced a series of sanctions against organizations funding attacks by extremist Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank. This is the latest sign of growing U.S. frustration with the policies of Netanyahu, whose coalition government relies on settler parties.
Israel launched its offensive in response to the October Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures. Militants also took about 250 people as hostages. Hamas has been designated a terror group by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others.
In November, more than 100 hostages were released as part of a four-day pause in the fighting. Israel says about 130 hostages remain in captivity, but one-quarter of them are dead.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
