A fresh wave of violence has killed dozens in Gaza after the collapse of a UN and US-backed ceasefire, officials say, as Hamas denies it kidnapped an Israeli soldier.
A Palestinian delegation was due to arrive in Cairo on Saturday for talks about a durable truce, even after the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire fell apart within hours of starting.
But the chances of a new truce seemed remote after Israel said it believed militants captured Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23, in an attack near the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which killed two other soldiers.
In the violence that ensued, at least 107 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, including 35 since midnight, officials said.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, a member of Israel's security cabinet, accused Hamas of being behind the soldier's disappearance and said the group would pay a high price.
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US President Barack Obama called for the soldier to be "unconditionally" released, but also said more must be done to protect Gaza civilians.
But Hamas's armed wing denied any knowledge about the fate of the missing soldier.
"The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades has no information on this soldier. We have lost contact with one of our combatant groups, which was fighting in the sector where the soldier went missing and it is possible that our fighters and this soldier were killed," it said.
On Saturday, AFP correspondents said Israeli air strikes targeted a mosque at Jebaliya, in northern Gaza, and flattened houses in a beachside neighbourhood.
In Israel, the Iron Dome air defence system intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza over the Tel Aviv area and another over the southern city of Beersheba, the army said.
The Qassam Brigades said they had fired three rockets at Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, the US Congress approved $US225 million ($A243 million) on Friday to restock the Iron Dome systems with interceptor missiles. The measure awaits Obama's signature.
Palestinian emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said at least 107 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza since the planned three-day ceasefire collapsed soon after it started early on Friday.
Since the conflict broke out on July 8, about 1650 Palestinians have been killed in the violence, the vast majority of them civilians, Qudra said. On the Israeli side, 63 soldiers and three civilians have died.
The Israeli military said the two latest deaths among its forces occurred in the same incident in which the soldier went missing near Rafah.
"Our initial indications suggest a soldier has been abducted by terrorists in an incident where terrorists breached the ceasefire," spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said.
