Smoke and flame rise during Israeli air strikes, as cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants continues, in Gaza City, May 14, 2021. /Reuters
Israeli planes renewed airstrikes in Gaza early on Saturday, and Hamas militants responded by firing rockets into Israel as battle entered the fifth night.
Palestinian medics said at least two people were killed in one of the several airstrikes in northern Gaza. Residents said Israeli naval boats fired shells from the Mediterranean though none may have hit the strip.
Since Monday, at least 128 people have been killed in Gaza, including 31 children and 20 women, and 950 others wounded, Palestinian medical officials said.
Among eight dead on the Israel side were a soldier patrolling the Gaza border and six civilians, including two children, according to Israeli authorities.
The Palestinian religious affairs ministry said Israeli planes destroyed a mosque. A military spokesman said the army was checking the report.
Sirens sounded in two major southern Israeli cities warning of incoming rocket attacks from Gaza. Hamas claimed responsibility for launching rockets.
With no sign of ending of the armed conflicts in sight, casualties spread further afield, with Palestinians reporting 11 killed in the occupied West Bank amid clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces.
World reactions
U.S. envoy Hady Amr, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israel and Palestinian Affairs flew in on Friday ahead of a UN Security Council session Sunday to discuss the escalation of tensions. The U.S. Embassy in Israel claimed it aims "to reinforce the need to work toward a sustainable calm."
Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, tweeted on Friday that "China is deeply concerned about the escalation of tensions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. #UNSC should act now and send a strong message. Regret a Friday meeting was blocked by one member."
On the same day, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties to immediately cease fighting in Gaza and Israel, said his spokesman.
The United Arab Emirates also on Friday called for a ceasefire and negotiations while offering condolences to all victims of the fighting, citing the promise of the September Accords that made the UAE and Bahrain the first Arab states in a quarter of a century to establish formal ties with Israel.
Egypt was leading regional efforts to secure a ceasefire. Cairo was pushing for both sides to cease fire from midnight on Friday pending further negotiations, two Egyptian security sources said, with Egypt leaning on Hamas and others trying to reach an agreement with Israel.
Also on Friday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun condemned Israeli attacks against Lebanese demonstrators on the border that killed a Lebanese man and injured three others.
Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, May 14, 2021. /Reuters
Israel launched day-long attacks on Friday to destroy what it said were several kilometers of tunnels, launch sites, and weapons manufacturing warehouses used by Palestinian militants in an effort to halt rocket attacks.
Across central and southern Israel, from small towns bordering Gaza to metropolitan Tel Aviv and southern Beersheba, people have adjusted to sirens wailing, radio and TV broadcast interruptions, and the beeps of cellphones bearing red alerts that send them rushing for cover.
Cross-border hostilities between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have been accompanied by violence in mixed communities of Jews and Arabs in Israel. Synagogues have been attacked, and street fights have broken out, prompting Israel's president to warn of civil war.
(With input from Reuters and Xinhua)