Israeli airstrikes hit UN school and homes in Gaza and kill at least 34 people, hospitals say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight and Wednesday hit a U.N. school sheltering displaced Palestinian families as well as two homes, killing at least 34 people, including 19 women and children, hospital officials said. A U.N. official said six staffers were among the dead.

The war in Gaza is now into its 11th month, with tens of thousands of people dead, and international efforts to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and the Hamas militant group have repeatedly stalled as they accuse each other of making additional and unacceptable demands.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops launched raids in several towns backed by airstrikes, continuing a crackdown across the territory that the military says is targeting militants but has wrecked neighborhoods and killed civilians. One airstrike killed five people the military said were militants threatening its troops. A second strike on a car killed at least three people, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

An attacker crashed a fuel truck into a West Bank bus stop near the Israeli settlement of GIvat Assaf, killing an Israeli soldier, the military said. Officials said soldiers and an armed civilian “neutralized” the attacker.

The strike on the U.N.’s al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed at least 14, including two children and a woman, officials from Awda and al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals said. At least 18 other people were wounded, they said.

The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants planning attacks from inside the school. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

One of the children killed was the daughter of Momin Selmi, a member of Gaza’s civil defense agency, which rescues wounded and retrieves bodies after strikes, the agency said.

Gaza's schools are packed with tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders. The al-Jaouni school, one of many in Gaza run by the U.N. agency for Palestinians, or UNWRA, has been hit by multiple strikes during the war.

UNRWA said six staffers aiding the displaced, including the manager of the shelter, were killed. “Humanitarian staff, premises & operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war,” the agency's director, Philippe Lazzarini, wrote on X.

Israel frequently bombs schools, saying they are being used by Hamas militants. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties from its strikes, saying its fighters base themselves and operate within dense residential neighborhoods.

More than 90% of Gaza’s school buildings have been severely or partially damaged in strikes, and more than half the schools housing displaced people have been hit, according to a survey in July by the Education Cluster, a collection of aid groups led by UNICEF and Save the Children.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,084 Palestinians and wounded another 95,029, the territory’s Health Ministry said. The ministry's count does not differentiate between civilians and militants. Israel launched its campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others.

Earlier Wednesday, a strike hit a home near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing 11 people, including six brothers and sisters ranging from 21 months to 21 years old, according to the European Hospital, which received the casualties.

A strike late Tuesday on a home in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed nine people, including six women and children, according to the Health Ministry and the civil defense. The civil defense said the home belonged to Akram al-Najjar, a professor at the al-Quds Open University, who survived.

The Israeli military said two soldiers died and seven were injured when their helicopter crashed in southern Gaza as they evacuated wounded troops. It said the overnight crash was not the result of enemy fire and is under investigation. There have been 340 Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operation began in Gaza in late October, at least 50 of whom died in accidents, according to the military.

The West Bank also has seen a surge in violence. Israel has stepped up its military raids there, saying it is working to dismantle militant groups and prevent increasing militant attacks on Israelis. Palestinians say such operations are aimed at cementing Israel’s seemingly open-ended military rule over the territory. At the same time, Jewish settlers have accelerated attacks on Palestinians.

The military on Wednesday said it launched assaults around the West Bank town of Tulkarem and in two northern towns. It said it dismantled an explosives lab, a weapons manufacturing workshop and an explosives-rigged vehicle. The military said an airstrike backing troops operating in the town of Tubas killed five militants. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed five were killed but did not specify if they were militants or civilians.

The Red Crescent said three people were killed in a strike on a car in a village outside Tulkarem. The military confirmed it carried out a strike there but had no immediate details.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

An Israeli tank overlooks the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

People inspect the destruction following an Israeli forces raid in Tulkarem, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers are seen during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

People inspect the destruction following an Israeli forces raid in Tulkarem, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli security forces inspect the scene of what they say is a Palestinian ramming attack at a bus station near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit El, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An Israeli soldier flashes a V-sign to photographers during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

An Israeli soldier aims her rifle during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers arrest a blindfolded Palestinian during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson will move ahead with a temporary spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, despite the headwinds that prompted him to pull the bill from consideration last week.

The bill includes a requirement that people registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship, which has become a leading election-year priority for Republicans raising the specter of noncitizens voting in the U.S., even though it's already illegal to do so and research has shown that such voting is rare.

“I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve — prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,” Johnson said Tuesday.

The legislation faces an uphill climb in the House and has no chance in the Senate. The vast majority of Democrats oppose it, and some Republicans do, too, but for different reasons.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the only way to prevent a government shutdown was for both sides to work together on an agreement. He said the House vote announced by Johnson was doomed to fail.

“The only thing that will accomplish is make clear that he's running into a dead end,” Schumer said. “We must have a bipartisan plan instead.”

The legislation would fund agencies at current levels while lawmakers work out their differences on a full-year spending agreement.

Democrats, and some Republicans, are pushing for a short extension. A temporary fix would allow the current Congress to hammer out a final bill after the election and get it to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature.

But Johnson and some of the more conservative members of his conference are pushing for a six-month extension in the hopes that Republican nominee Donald Trump will win the election and give them more leverage when crafting the full-year bill.

Schumer said a six-month measure would shortchange the Pentagon and other government agencies that need more certainty about funding levels.

“You simply cannot run the military with six-month stopgaps,” Schumer said.

Johnson said last week that he was not giving up on his proposal just yet and would be working through the weekend to build support. He said ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections is “the most pressing issue right now and we’re going to get this job done.”

On Sunday, he traveled to Florida to meet with Trump, who had earlier seemingly encouraged a government shutdown if Republicans “don’t get assurances on Election Security.” Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social that they should not go forward with a stopgap bill without such assurances.

The House approved a bill with the proof of citizenship mandate back in July. Some Republicans who view the issue as popular with their constituents have been pushing for another chance to show their support for the measure. Still, other Republicans are expected to vote no because they view the spending in the bill as excessive.

FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, July 23, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Speaker Johnson sets House vote on government funding bill after a one-week postponement

Speaker Johnson sets House vote on government funding bill after a one-week postponement