Palestinians are stockpiling thousands of tires to burn at the Gaza border on Friday in a bid to blur the vision of Israeli soldiers with smoke and flames.

The next mass protest, following on from a deadly demonstration last Friday attended by tens of thousands of Palestinians, has been nicknamed 'the Friday of Old Tires', a source told the Jerusalem Post.

Thousands of Palestinians are again expected to gather at five spots near the Gaza border, while Israeli soldiers and snipers will take up positions on the other side of the fence.

Hamas announced on Thursday it would pay $3,000 to the family of anyone killed in the protests, $500 to Palestinians critically wounded and $200 to those who sustain more minor injuries.

A Palestinian protester moves a burning tire during clashes with Israeli troops at Israel-Gaza border on Thursday

Israeli leaders have said payments by Palestinian authorities to the families of militants killed or imprisoned by Israel encourages attacks on Israelis. Palestinians revere brethren killed in the conflict with Israel as martyrs.

Protest organisers on Thursday said they were planning to try to stop smaller numbers of protesters approaching the fence and hurling stones or rolling burning tyres at Israeli troops, who killed 18 Palestinians last Friday.

It was the bloodiest day since a 2014 war. Another two Gazans have been killed since.

But widespread social media calls for protesters to bring tyres to burn and Israel's pledge to prevent damage to the fence and infiltration attempts have raised fears of more deaths.

Friday's mass protest has been nicknamed 'the Friday of Old Tires' because protesters plan to burn rubber to obscure Israeli soldiers' visibility

Palestinian protesters transport tires they collected to burn during the protest on Friday, in Khan Younis town in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday

Palestinians are stockpiling thousands of tires to burn at the Gaza Strip's border on Friday

Young Palestinians have been gathering tyres and carting them near the border to burn and create a smokescreen to make it harder for Israeli snipers.

Some have been walking the streets collecting money to buy tyres.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed that open-fire rules would not change.

'If there are provocations, there will be a reaction of the harshest kind like last week,' Lieberman told public radio.

'We do not intend to change the rules of engagement.'

Confrontations over the past week have left 21 people dead. Out of that number, 15 were killed during border protests, and videos and witness accounts indicate that most were not armed or carrying out attacks at the moment they were killed.

The latest death toll comes after an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza early on Thursday killed a Palestinian, and a second man succumbed to injuries he sustained in last Friday's protest.

Thousands of Palestinians are again expected to gather at five spots near the Gaza border on Friday. Pictured: Palestinian protesters run during clashes with Israeli troops at Israel-Gaza border on Thursday

A protester waves a Palestinian flag as smoke rises from burning tires during Thursday's clashes

The protest action is set to wind up on May 15, when Palestinians mark the 'Naqba', or 'Catastrophe', when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes during violence that culminated in war in May 1948 between the newly created state of Israel and its Arab neighbours.

Israel has long ruled out any right of return, fearing it would lose its Jewish majority.

Israel-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen since 2014.

The Palestinians are furious at U.S. President Donald Trump's December 6 decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and to move the U.S. Embassy to the city. Its eastern half was taken by Israel in a 1967 war and is wanted by Palestinians for the capital of a future state.

Any move to negotiate with Israel would be an 'unforgivable mistake', Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, after Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis were entitled to live peacefully on their own land.

Khamenei said Israel should be forced to retreat.

'With an intense and planned struggle they should force the enemy to retreat toward the point of demise,' he said.

Khamenei issued Wednesday's statement in reply to a letter he recently received from Hamas chief Ismail Haniya which criticised the support of Arab governments in the region for the United States.

Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, dominates the small coastal strip of Gaza.

Khamenei's statement said it was the duty of all Muslims to support the Palestinian resistance movements and he pledged continued Iranian backing for Hamas.

Any move to negotiate with Israel would be an 'unforgivable mistake', Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, after Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis were entitled to live peacefully on their own land

A Palestinian protester stands next tires in Khan Younis town in the southern Gaza Stri

The new round of protests along the Gaza-Israel expected on Friday raises the prospect of further bloodshed

Palestinian protesters collect tires to burn during the protest at the border on Friday

Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines - does not officially recognise Israel, but Mohammed bin Salman's comments, quoted in the U.S. magazine The Atlantic, are a further sign of an apparent thawing in bilateral ties.

'I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation,' he said.

'I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land,' he added.

'But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.'

In the interview, he also compared Khamenei to Hitler.

'I believe the Iranian Supreme Leader makes Hitler look good. Hitler didn't do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world.'

Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis were entitled to live peacefully on their own land