The explosion after an Israeli strike targeted a building in Gaza City on May 14, 2021. /Mahmud Hams/AFP
Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire and more than 100 were injured in clashes in the West Bank on Friday, as days of unrest in Israel's occupied territories have turned into the biggest Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2014.
One of the victims was a man who had, according to Israeli forces, attempted to stab a soldier at a military post in Ofra, north of Ramallah, while another was "a main instigator" of a "violent riot" in Yaabad, a village near Jenin.
Two more Palestinians were injured in live fire in the northern West Bank and died shortly after.
The Palestine Red Crescent said more than 100 people had been wounded in the clashes, including injuries from tear gas and rubber bullets.
Lebanon's state news agency reported on Friday evening that a 21-year-old Lebanese man was killed by Israeli fire after he and others in a group of youths tried to cross a security fence on the border with Israel, where protesters were gathered in solidarity with Palestinians.
The protesters were later dispersed by the Lebanese army.
Israeli troops prepare to launch a mortar on the Gaza Strip, from their position in southern Israel along the border with the Palestinian enclave, on May 14, 2021. /Menahem Kahana/AFP
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Early on Friday, Israel's forces launched the biggest offensive on the Gaza strip in the conflict so far, which is now in its fifth day.
Israel launched a pre-dawn heavy attack including 160 aircraft, tanks and artillery aimed at Palestinian militant tunnels, as Israeli army authorities said they are trying to stop Hamas's rocket attacks on Israeli towns.
Thirteen Palestinians, including a mother and her three children, were killed in the Israeli offensive, health officials in Gaza said.
Later on Friday, Israeli aircraft bombed the houses of three senior Hamas military commanders in central Gaza, which had already been evacuated by local residents.
Palestinian youths push a rubbish container used as a barricade, during confrontations with Israeli security forces near the Hawara checkpoint south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, on May 14, 2021. /Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP
The Israeli military said some 1,800 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza, 430 of which reportedly malfunctioned and never reached their targets. Between 80 and 90 militants have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to Israel's army.
The total death toll of the conflict has risen to 122 in Gaza since the escalating of violence on Monday and 900 others were wounded, according to Palestinian medical officials. Eight people have been killed by rocket attacks in Israel.
On Friday France's President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for a swift return to peace in the region.
Macron condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas and supported Israel's right to defend itself, but also expressed concern about civilians in Gaza, caught in the violence of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
In a separate statement, Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel had no plans yet on de-escalating the conflict in Gaza.
"They attacked our capital, they fired rockets at our cities. They're paying and will continue to pay dearly for that," he said on Friday.
"It's not over yet."