China on Friday accused the United States of "ignoring the suffering" of Palestinians, after Washington blocked a scheduled U.N. Security Council meeting aimed at addressing an intensifying conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The U.S., Israel's diplomatic shield at the U.N., blocked an originally scheduled Friday session despite the deepening bloodshed -- but eventually agreed to move it to Sunday, diplomats said.

Israel bombarded Gaza with artillery and air strikes on Friday following a new barrage of rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave, intensifying a conflict that has now claimed dozens of lives.

Deadly violence meanwhile escalated across the occupied West Bank and has been described as among the most intense since the second intifada that began in 2000. It left seven Palestinians dead from Israeli fire, the Palestinian health ministry said, as overall fatalities from strikes on Gaza rose to 122.

Hamas on Thursday said it fired a large rocket at Israel's Ramon airport near Eilat, where incoming passenger flights were diverted after waves of rocket launches towards the main airport near Tel Aviv.

A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing announced the launch of the 250 kilogram rocket and demanded that "all international airlines immediately halt their flights to any airports" in Israel.

Tunisia, Norway and China have requested another emergency U.N. Security Council meeting be scheduled Friday on the worsening hostilities between Israel and Palestinians, despite ongoing U.S. resistance for the body to take a role in the conflict.

The session would be public and would include participation by Israel and the Palestinians, diplomats told AFP Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said overnight he spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urging an end to rocket attacks fired from Gaza by Hamas militants amid escalating tensions with Israel.

U.S. President Joe Biden said overnight that Israel has a right to defend itself but after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he hopes violent clashes with Palestinians will end quickly.

Israel and the Palestinians were engaged in an escalating conflict on two fronts Thursday, with Israeli authorities scrambling to quell riots between Arabs and Jews inside Israel after days of exchanging deadly fire with Islamist militants in Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered a "massive reinforcement" of security forces to quell mob violence across the country, where police stations have been attacked and people savagely beaten on both sides.

The international community must do everything possible to avert a new conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, France's foreign minister said Wednesday, after Palestinian militants fired hundreds of rockets and the Israeli army launched air strikes.

Israelis and Palestinians must immediately halt their violence "to prevent a broader conflict" impacting civilian populations, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday called for an urgent meeting of the Middle East Quartet in order to halt violence between Israel and the Palestinians.