President Joe Biden is hosting Jordan's King Abdullah II in Washington Monday and the two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing effort to free hostages held in Gaza, and growing concern over a possible Israeli military operation in the port city of Rafah.

It is the first meeting between the allies since three American troops were killed last month in a drone strike against a U.S. base in Jordan. Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the fatalities, the first for the U.S. after months of strikes by such groups against American forces across the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Monday that it's vital that it receives new European Union funding within weeks because Israel appears to be readying a ground assault on Rafah, where many civilians have taken refuge.

The aid agency UNRWA is reeling from allegations that 12 of its 13,000 Gaza staff participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel.UNRWA immediately fired the staff, but more than a dozen countries suspended funding worth about $440 million, almost half of UNRWA's budget for 2024.

With his flowing curls and thrilling attacking play, it was no surprise that Akram Afif was likened to Liverpool star Mo Salah at the Asian Cup.

Over the space of a month the Qatar forward lit up the tournament. With eight goals, including a hat trick in the 3-1 win over Jordan in the final, he was the leading scorer and most valuable player as his team won back-to-back titles.

Turkey's first astronaut returned home to a hero's welcome Monday, portrayed as a symbol of the country's advances in technology and aerospace.

Alper Gezeravci was greeted by bouquet-laden children at Ankara's Esenboga Airport as he returned from a private three-week mission to the International Space Station. In return, he handed out Turkish flags he had carried with him into space.

An appeals court ordered the Dutch government on Monday to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing a clear risk of violations of international law.

A trio of human rights organizations brought a civil suit against the Netherlands in December, arguing authorities needed to reevaluate the export license in light of Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.

It was a warm handshake between the unlikeliest of statesmen, conducted under the beaming gaze of President Jimmy Carter. Sunlight streamed through the trees at Camp David, Maryland, as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin solidified a landmark agreement that has allowed over 40 years of peace between Israel and Egypt. It has served as an important source of stability in a volatile region.

That peace has held through two Palestinian uprisings and a series of wars between Israel and Hamas. But now, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to send Israeli troops into Rafah, a city in Gaza on the border with Egypt, the Egyptian government is threatening to void the agreement.

Israeli forces rescued two hostages early Monday, storming a heavily guarded apartment in the southern Gaza Strip and extracting the captives under fire in a dramatic raid that was a small but symbolically significant success for Israel. The operation killed at least 50 Palestinians, including women and children, according to Palestinian health officials in the beleaguered territory.

The raid was celebrated in Israel, which has been seeking the release of more than 100 captives held by Hamas and other militant groups.

Israeli forces overnight shelled the southern Lebanese border village of Houla, killing one person and wounding nine as they left a mosque after prayers, state-run National News Agency reported.

The agency said that in addition to the artillery shelling, a drone fired a missile toward the mosque.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in Rafah early Saturday, hours after Israel's prime minister said he asked the military to plan for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from the southern Gaza city ahead of a ground invasion.

Benjamin Netanyahu did not provide details or a timeline, but the announcement set off widespread panic. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are packed into Rafah, many after being uprooted repeatedly by Israeli evacuation orders that now cover two-thirds of Gaza's territory. It's not clear where they could run next.

Iran's foreign minister vowed after arriving in Beirut on Friday to keep supporting Hezbollah, saying Lebanon's security affects that of Iran and the region.

Hossein Amirabdollahian was welcomed by representatives of Lebanon's Hezbollah as well as the militant Palestinian group Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran, a main backer of the militant groups, has been calling on the U.S. to pressure Israel to stop its offensive in the Gaza Strip.