The crisis in Lebanon will be among a host of issues that Israel’s defense minister will discuss with his French counterpart in Paris this week, an Israeli government statement said Tuesday.

The Israeli defense ministry said Benny Gantz will travel on Wednesday for the meeting with Florence Parly and that the two will discuss the Israeli spyware company NSO, the crisis in Lebanon and nuclear talks between world powers and Iran.

Former premier Najib Miqati was on Monday named PM-designate after he garnered 72 votes in the binding parliamentary consultations.

Lebanon was on Monday holding binding parliamentary consultations to designate a new premier who will make the third attempt within a year to form a government amid deepening political and economic turmoil.

President Michel Aoun was holding the consultations with the parliamentary blocs in order to find a replacement for Saad Hariri, who quit as PM-designate on July 15 after nine months of political horse-trading failed to produce a new cabinet.

Iraq's prime minister says his country no longer requires American combat troops to fight the Islamic State group, but a formal timeframe for their redeployment will depend on the outcome of talks with U.S. officials this week.

Mustafa al-Kadhemi said Iraq will still ask for U.S. training and military intelligence gathering. His comments came in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of a planned trip to Washington, where he's slated to meet with President Joe Biden on Monday for a fourth round of strategic talks.

An explosion tore through a house in a popular market in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing one person and wounding 10, the Palestinian territory's interior ministry said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

Israel shelled south Lebanon early Tuesday in response to an earlier rocket attack, the Israeli army said, as the United Nations urged all sides to show "maximum restraint."

The Israeli army said "two rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory," with one intercepted by air defenses while the other struck open ground.

A U.S. drone attack targeted a truck for an Iran-backed militia in eastern Syria on Sunday, destroying the vehicle without causing any casualties, two Iraqi militia officials said.

The attack came amid increasing tensions in the region between the U.S. military and Iran-backed Iraqi militias in recent weeks. The Americans have targeted militants who used drones and rockets to hit bases housing U.S. troops.

The European Union on Friday called on Lebanese politicians to urgently form a new Cabinet, hours after Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced his resignation.

The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Lebanese leaders are responsible for solving "the current domestic, self-made crisis," adding that it is urgent to form a new cabinet quickly.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday that PM-designate Saad Hariri's resignation was proof that "Lebanese officials are unable to find a way out of the crisis," accusing them of "cynical self-destruction."

A spokesman for the U.N. meanwhile described the development as regrettable, reiterating calls for a government capable of addressing the country's "numerous challenges" to be put together rapidly.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Thursday announced that he is quitting the government formation mission, following talks with President Michel Aoun in Baabda.

“I met with the President and we held consultations over the government. During the discussions, the President requested essential changes and we discussed the issue related to the vote of confidence and the issue of naming the two Christian ministers,” Hariri said after a 20-minute meeting.