Latest Israel-Lebanon: 19 dead, thousands trapped as Israeli forces attack camps in Jabalia

The leaders of nine southern European Union countries on Friday pledged their support to Lebanese forces to restore control over the country’s southern territory, hoping to bring peace to an area hit by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is haunted.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the so-called MED9 – Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Portugal and Croatia – said they would “continue to advocate for further support for Lebanon and its people, including the “Lebanese Armed Forces to play a crucial stabilizing role.”

“The evolving situation in the Middle East is extremely worrying,” the statement said. “Given the impact of the Gaza conflict on the entire region, we express our utmost concern about the escalation of the military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah.”

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Hours after an Israeli strike destroyed a three-story building in Beirut and killed at least 10 people, Maggie Sharawi received a call from a person living nearby who told her that a cat that had several kittens had been killed in the attack.

As Civil Defense members combed the rubble for human victims or survivors, Sharawi and other members of Animals Lebanon, an animal protection organization, also rushed to the scene of the accident in Beirut’s central Burj Abi Haidar neighborhood on Friday.

They began climbing through rubble, twisted metal, and collapsed walls to get to the kittens. The animals, only a few days old, were pulled out, placed in a plastic container and taken away as rescuers continued to search for other cats whose cries came from beneath the rubble.

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Since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon, there have been clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters along the border, while the Lebanese army has largely stood aside.

It is not the first time that the national army has observed the war at home from the uncomfortable position of a bystander.

The widely popular Lebanese army is one of the few institutions that can bridge the country’s sectarian and political divides. Several army commanders have become president, and the current commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun, is widely seen as one of the top candidates to step in if the deadlocked parliament fills a two-year vacuum and appoints a president.

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As the war between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, Lebanese civilians are increasingly paying the price – and this dangerous reality often becomes clear in the middle of the night, when the Israeli military usually warns people to evacuate buildings or neighborhoods to avoid airstrikes.

Moein Shreif was recently awakened at 3 a.m. by a neighbor who alerted him that Israel was planning an attack on a nearby building in his middle-class suburb south of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Shreif, his wife and their three children quickly fled their multi-story apartment building and drove away. Explosions rang out within minutes, he said later in the day when he returned to see the smoldering ruins of his building and the building next door.

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Donald Trump’s family business tried to open a luxury hotel in Jerusalem, Israel, according to a report.

The former president’s company also looked into converting a nascent skyscraper – near the Israel Defense Forces headquarters – in Tel Aviv into another hotel. Once completed, this building will house the most hotel rooms in the country, the outlet said.

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U.N. humanitarian officials say aid to the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months and warn that key lifelines have been cut off in the territory’s north, where Israel has renewed its military offensive.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq delivered the grim news on Friday, saying the main crossings into northern Gaza were closed and no food or other essential supplies had arrived since October 1. More than 400,000 people who remained in the north were under increasing pressure to move south, he said.

“The situation in the northern Gaza Strip is terrible,” Haq said, adding that the entire area is plagued by insecurity.

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The Israeli military on Saturday ordered residents of 23 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, which flows from the western Bekaa Valley to the Mediterranean.

The order, delivered via a military statement, mentions villages in southern Lebanon that have been recent targets of Israeli attacks, many of which are already almost empty.

The Israeli military said evacuations were necessary for the safety of residents because of Hezbollah’s increasing activity, claiming the group was using locations to hide weapons and launch attacks on Israel.

Hezbollah denies hiding weapons among civilians.

Another member of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, was hit by gunfire on Friday, it said in a statement Saturday, adding that the man was now stable after surgery to remove the bullet.

In a statement on Saturday, Hamas said Israel’s “massacre of civilians” was aimed at punishing residents of Jabalia for refusing to leave their homes. It also said this was a sign that Israel had failed to defeat the group militarily.

Israel has denied that it is targeting civilians.

The armed wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and smaller other factions said their fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and surrounding areas with anti-tank missiles and mortar fire.