Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 people, including women and children overnight in Gaza, according to hospital officials and a body count by an Associated Press journalist.

The latest strikes occurred as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to leave Monday for the United States, where he is expected to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress to make his case for the nine-month war against Hamas while cease-fire negotiations continue. A team will be sent to continue talks on Thursday, Netanyahu's office said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington on Monday, leaving behind a brutal war to make a politically precarious speech before Congress at a time of great uncertainty following Joe Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race.

Before stepping on the plane, Netanyahu said that regardless of who will be the next president, "our enemies must know that Israel and the United States stand together tomorrow and always." He added that he intended to meet with President Biden and thank him for more than 40 years of friendship, while pushing him on certain issues where Netanyahu wants to receive more support.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have promised a "huge" retaliation against Israel for a deadly strike on the port of Hodeida, as regional fallout widens from months of war in Gaza.

The Israeli strike, the first claimed by Israel in Yemen, set oil tanks ablaze at the vital port and came a day after the first fatal attack by the Houthis in Israel.

Hezbollah said Saturday's strikes by Israel on its Yemeni allies, the Houthi rebels, marked a dangerous turn nine months into the Gaza war.

"The foolish step taken by the Zionist enemy heralds a new, dangerous phase of a very important confrontation across the entire region," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

Russia said Sunday that it scrambled fighter jets to prevent two U.S. strategic bomber planes from crossing its border over the Barents Sea in the Arctic.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to deliver a landmark speech to the U.S. Congress this week as he fights off intense pressure to cut a Gaza war ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Israel's longest-serving premier will on Wednesday become the first foreign leader to address a joint meeting of the two chambers four times -- pulling ahead of Britain's Winston Churchill on three.

Firefighting teams on Sunday were still battling a blaze at the Houthi-run port in Yemen's Hodeida, hours after an Israeli strike on the harbor triggered a massive fire and killed three people, according to the rebels.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of remaining hostages by Hamas is near the "goal line."

"I believe we're inside the 10 yard line and driving toward the goal line" on an "agreement that would produce a ceasefire, get the hostages home, and put us on a better track to trying to build lasting peace and stability," Blinken said at a forum in Colorado.

Israel threatened reprisals after a drone claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels penetrated its vaunted air defenses and killed a civilian in a Tel Aviv apartment building near a U.S. embassy annex.

The attack drew condemnation from U.N. chief Antonio Guterres and an appeal for "maximum restraint" to avoid "further escalation in the region."

The bodies of four Pakistanis killed in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Oman this week have been repatriated and handed to their families, officials said Friday.

Relatives of the victims were present when the Pakistan International Airlines flights landed at the Islamabad and Lahore airports. Airline spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said the bodies were repatriated at orders from the government and handed to the victims' relatives for burial.