WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump urged countries who did not help the U.S. in its coordinated strikes against Iran and are now unable to get jet fuel to buy American oil and go to the Strait of Hormuz and "just TAKE it."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

By Raghed Waked and Thomas Suen

BEIRUT, March 31 (Reuters) - A month ago, Nariman al-Issa's life was like any 12-year-old's: she played with toys and rode her bicycle in Beirut's southern suburbs. Her childhood was turned upside down when an Israeli strike killed her parents and siblings and destroyed their home.

Now the young Syrian is out of school and barely surviving with her extended family out on the street in the Lebanese capital - among the 1 million displaced by the Israeli military's expanding air strikes and mass evacuation orders.

In the stands of Beirut's largest stadium, it is the shouts of children displaced by war that echo, not the songs of fans.

Beneath the concrete steps, more than a thousand people fleeing Israeli bombs on Lebanon sleep in tents, including around 50 wheelchair users and people with other mobility challenges.

The vast sports complex is one of the few shelters able to take in people with disabilities, despite being poorly adapted to their needs.

Lebanon said Israeli strikes hit near Beirut's main airport road on Tuesday, as the UN Security Council held an urgent meeting after three peacekeepers were killed in the south.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country's military would occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon even after the current war against Hezbollah has ended.

This was not the first Israeli declaration signalling an intention to occupy parts of the south, but it was the clearest since the Middle East war spread to Lebanon on March 2.

BRUSSELS, March 31 (Reuters) - Israel's decision to pass a law making death by hanging a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks is 'very concerning' for the European Union, said a Commission spokesperson on Tuesday.

"This is a clear step backwards," added the spokesperson at a news briefing. "We call Israel to abide by its previous principled position, its obligation under international law and its commitment to democratic principles," he said.

JERUSALEM, March 31 (Reuters) - Israel will establish a buffer zone inside southern Lebanon and maintain control over the entire area up to the Litani River once the conflict with Hezbollah militants ends, Israel's defence minister said on Tuesday.

"At the end of the operation, the IDF would control the area up to the Litani River, including the remaining Litani bridges, while eliminating Radwan forces that infiltrated the area and destroying all weapons there," Israel Katz said in a statement following a security assessment, calling it a "security zone".

MOSCOW, March 31 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that U.S. plans to unfurl regime change in Iran and Venezuela were aimed at gaining more control over oil and gas resources.

Lavrov said the United States and Israel did not want normalisation between Iran and its neighbours, and cautioned that the war in the Middle East could spiral into a wider conflict.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, writing by Anna Peverieri; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war:

- China fuel surcharges -

Several Chinese airlines, including national carrier Air China, said they will raise their fuel surcharges on domestic flights from Sunday.

Air China, China Southern and its subsidiary Xiamen Airlines said in statements that they will increase surcharges on flights of up to 800 kilometres (500 miles) by 60 yuan ($8.70), and 120 yuan for longer flights.

Spring Airlines and Juneyao Airlines also announced fuel surcharge hikes.

- Oil spikes -

Iraq is home to ruins from some of the world's earliest civilisations, but teams led by international archaeologists have been forced by drone and rocket attacks in the Middle East war to cut short their expeditions.

Archaeologists told AFP that some of the projects interrupted by the war had been planned for years, but their teams have had to evacuate ancient sites since the United States and Israel attacked Iraq's neighbour, Iran.

Like other countries around the region, Iraq has become engulfed in the war, bringing to an abrupt end a period of nascent stability.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Tehran blasts -

An AFP journalist heard a series of explosions in central Tehran, as US-Israeli strikes wore on into their fifth week.

AFP journalists also confirmed that air defences had been activated over the capital, including in the north.

- UN slams Israel death penalty 'war crime' -