GAZA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians early on Thursday in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, medical sources said.

Health ministry officials told Xinhua that four people from one family were killed when an Israeli warplane hit their home on Beit Lahiya town, north of Gaza, adding that two Palestinian young men died of wounds they sustained in previous Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday.

The death toll of the Israeli offensive which started on July 8 to Palestinian rocket fire, has mounted to 707. Some 4,500 others have been injured. Israel has lost 4 civilians and 28 soldiers so far. Regional and international efforts to end the ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza have been going on unabated. However, all endeavors have not yielded any results so far.