Israel strikes kill dozens in Gaza as toll tops 670

An Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza Strip killed five people on Wednesday evening, medics said, as Israel's army announced two more soldiers had died in fighting.

Earlier, Israeli tank fire killed five people, including two children, in southern Gaza, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, as Wednesday's body count reached at least 47 Palestinians.

A series of other strikes and shellings throughout Gaza brought the total number killed from 16 days of conflict between Israel and Hamas to 678 Palestinians, according to figures from Qudra.

Another air strike on Wednesday killed a two-year-old girl, Qudra said.

Some 32 people in Israel -- two civilians, a foreign worker and 29 soldiers -- have been killed during the Jewish state's operation to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza militants and destroy Hamas tunnels.

Early on Wednesday, the military announced two soldiers had been killed in fighting the night before.

And a foreign worker, whose nationality was not immediately disclosed, died later Wednesday after being hit by a mortar round fired from Gaza, police said.

Rights groups have said that more than 80 percent of Palestinians killed have been civilians, with Gaza-based NGO the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights saying more than 90 were women and more than 160 children.