Israeli leaders have increased their warnings to Lebanon's Hezbollah Islamist movement as cross-border violence escalates by the day, but experts believe that the risk of all-out war remains limited.

Is the violence intensifying?

Hezbollah says it is fighting in support of its ally Hamas, which is battling Israel in an eight-month-old war in the Gaza Strip triggered by the Palestinian Islamist group's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel.

The United States on Friday reestablished a temporary pier to boost aid deliveries into Gaza after the structure suffered storm damage and underwent repairs in a nearby port, the country's military said.

Gaza has been devastated by Israeli operations against Palestinian militant group Hamas that are now entering their ninth month, uprooting the coastal territory's population and leaving them in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Israeli forces bombarded a Gaza refugee camp Friday after a deadly strike on a UN-school there, as the war sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel entered its ninth month.

Efforts to mediate the first ceasefire in the bloody conflict since a week-long pause in November appear to have stalled a week after US President Joe Biden offered a new roadmap.

Hamas has yet to respond to Biden's proposal, while Israel has expressed openness to discussions but remains committed to destroying the Palestinian Islamist group.

Hundreds of deadly landmines and unexploded ordnance still litter parts of Libya after years of fighting, posing a constant danger to civilians, especially children, long after the conflict.

"It's a disaster zone," said Saleh Farhat, describing his neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of the capital Tripoli, where his son Mohamed was being treated in a hospital intensive care unit after being severely injured in an explosion.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address lawmakers in the US Congress on July 24, Republican party leaders announced Thursday.

The visit comes amid mounting pressure for the US ally and Hamas militants to agree to a permanent ceasefire as Israel faces growing diplomatic isolation over the rising death toll in Gaza.

President Joe Biden last week presented what he called an Israeli three-phase plan that would end the conflict, free all hostages and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas in power.

Saudi Arabia said the hajj will start on June 14 after astronomical observatories spotted the crescent moon Thursday evening, signalling the beginning of the month in which the annual pilgrimage falls.

The Supreme Court determined that Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar, would begin on Friday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken at least once by all Muslims with the means.

The United States is waging a diplomatic offensive to persuade Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan laid out by President Joe Biden, working with the United Nations and world leaders favorable to the Palestinians.

Biden, whose support for Israel has alienated parts of his base five months before razor-tight elections, on May 31 took his boldest move by publicly unveiling the plan to halt the conflict and eventually end the war.

On Thursday, the White House released a statement by Biden and 16 other world leaders that called on Hamas to agree, saying, "There is no time to lose."

The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces killed three Palestinians Thursday in a raid in Jenin city in the occupied West Bank, while the army said troops had "eliminated militants".

The Palestinian Red Crescent said another 13 people had been wounded in the raid.

Israel's army said it had conducted "counterterrorism activity" around Jenin.

Its forces "eliminated" militants and arrested "a wanted individual suspected of terrorist activities", it said in a statement.

Faisal Thari's quest for safety led him to seek refuge in a UN school, only to face the horror of its bombing Thursday. Shocked, he deplored the civilian toll of the Gaza war.

"The strike landed on civilians and poor people who had nothing to do with anything," Thari told AFP.

"Why? What have we done for them to bomb us?" he said, standing in front of concrete hanging from the classroom ceiling by a thread of rebar.

Like other spouses of Israeli army reservists, Sagit Bachner has faced both emotional strain and financial difficulty since her husband was called up to fight the day after October 7.

"Suddenly there was a vacuum, like everything was really on me," said Bachner, 37.

"I had to be the mum, the dad, the caregiver -- everything was basically on my shoulders."

In the months since, Israel has vowed to destroy the militant group Hamas and rescue the hostages while also resettling communities from near the Gaza Strip and helping the evacuees.