The White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are endorsing efforts to terminate the 2002 authorization of military force against Iraq, a step that supporters say is necessary to constrain presidential war powers even though it is unlikely to affect U.S. military operations around the world.

Israeli airstrikes hit militant sites in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday and Palestinians responded by sending a series of fire-carrying balloons back across the border for a second straight day — further testing a fragile cease-fire that ended last month's war between Israel and Hamas.