Palestinian activists and residents have planted a grove of 250 olive trees in a northern West Bank town in memory of the late U.S. President Jimmy Carter, describing him as a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause.

The former president's legacy is "rooted" among Palestinians and across the globe, said Abbas Melhem, executive manager of the Palestinian Farmers Union. Carter was one of the few world leaders who "stood firmly supporting the struggle of the Palestinians for independence and for freedom," he said.

The defense ministers of Europe's five top military spenders have said they want to continue increasing their investments in defense but described meeting President-elect Donald Trump's challenge for them to raise spending to 5% of their overall economic output as complicated.

The defense ministers of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Poland came together Monday near Warsaw for a meeting in a new format that they established after Trump was re-elected last year. Their first meeting in this format of five NATO members was held in Berlin in late November.

France's new prime minister, François Bayrou, is facing his first major test at parliament on Tuesday as his government has no majority amid unprecedented political instability.

Bayrou will address lawmakers through a general policy speech meant to outline his top priorities, including key budget decisions, one month after he was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron.

Weaker winds and intense firefighting efforts over the weekend boosted containment of fires burning in and around Los Angeles, but the effects of the blazes on the entertainment world continue.

The Oscar nominations have been delayed and the film academy announced Monday that it would cancel a gathering of nominees due to the fire. It's the latest shift to Hollywood's awards season and other projects are also being delayed. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, announced Sunday she would not launch a Netflix lifestyles program as planned this week and would wait until March.

An Israeli rights group says Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of a north Gaza hospital who had disappeared since he was taken by Israeli troops during a raid two weeks ago, is being held in a notorious Israeli military prison in the occupied West Bank.

The group, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, said the Israeli military confirmed in an email that Abu Safiya is at Ofer Prison. A lawyer for Abu Safiya’s family was told that he will not be allowed to see him until Jan. 29, said a spokesman for PHRI, Ran Yaron, told The Associated Press. The military had previously refused to comment when asked by the AP about Abu Safiya’s location.

A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted central Israel early Tuesday, causing sirens to blare and people to flee into bomb shelters.

The Israeli military said it made several attempts to intercept a missile launched from Yemen and “the missile was likely intercepted.” The Magen David Adom emergency service in Israel said there were no injuries from the missile or falling debris, but some people suffered injuries when running to shelters.

President-elect Donald Trump has described a possible ceasefire as being “very close.”

“I understand ... there’s been a handshake and they are getting it finished -- and maybe by the end of the week,” Trump told the American cable channel Newsmax Monday night.

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 18 people overnight, including six women and four children, health officials said Tuesday, as Israel and Hamas appeared to be narrowing in on a ceasefire deal to end the 15-month war and release dozens of hostages.

Officials have expressed mounting optimism that they can conclude an agreement in the coming days after more than a year of talks that have repeatedly stalled.

President Joe Biden said Monday that his stewardship of American foreign policy has left the U.S. safer and economically more secure, arguing that President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a nation viewed as stronger and more reliable than it was four years ago.

Biden trumpeted his administration's work on expanding NATO, rallying allies to provide Ukraine with military aid to fight Russia and bolstering American chip manufacturing to better compete with China during a wide-ranging speech to reflect on his foreign policy legacy a week before ceding the White House to Trump.

Prominent Lebanese diplomat and judge Nawaf Salam was named PM-designate on Monday after he won sweeping support from legislators, as Hezbollah accused some parties of "staging an ambush aimed at disintegration, partitioning, elimination and exclusion."

The Presidency, which issued a decree naming Salam as PM-designate, said the latter received 84 votes as caretaker PM Najib Mikati received only nine votes and 35 MPs refrained from naming anyone.