Two Thai workers killed in rocket attack on Israel: police

Two Thai workers were killed in southern Israel by rocket fire from Gaza on Tuesday, police said, raising to 12 the death toll in the Jewish state since the conflict broke out.

"In the last wave of rockets that landed in the Eshkol region, two people were killed," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, identifying the dead as workers from Thailand.

A week ago, a Thai national was wounded by another rocket fired from Gaza, and a farm labourer from Thailand was killed in the 2004 Israel-Gaza war.

Magen David Adom, Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross, said seven other foreign workers were wounded by shrapnel in the latest attack, one of them seriously.

They were all taken to Soroka hospital in the southern town of Beersheba. According to the United Hatzalah volunteer rescue service, the Gaza rocket hit a packaging factory near the border.

Meanwhile, Israel air strikes continue to pound the besieged Gaza strip. At least 213 Palestinians, including 61 children, have been killed since the assault began.

More than 58,000 Palestinians have been displaced as a result, with most seeking shelter in UN-run schools in Gaza.