Israel's parliament speaker said Monday that a vote to approve a new government that would end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year rule will be held in the coming week, without setting a precise date.

The announcement by Yariv Levin, a close Netanyahu ally, leaves time for the prime minister's efforts to try to peel away supporters from the fragile coalition arrayed against him, which consists of eight parties and has only a narrow majority in Israel's 120-member Knesset, or parliament.

Hizbullah on Monday mourned Iranian Shiite cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, who as Iran's ambassador to Syria had helped found the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group in the eighties of last century.

In a statement, Hizbullah extended its condolences, praising Mohtashamipour for his role "in the service of the (Iranian) revolution" and in providing all forms of support toward the launching of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon and the Palestinian cause.

Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a Shiite cleric who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found Hizbullah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday of the coronavirus. He was 74.

A close ally of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mohtashamipour in the 1970s formed alliances with Muslim militant groups across the Mideast. After the Islamic Revolution, he helped found the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Iran and as ambassador to Syria brought the force into the region to help form Hizbullah.

The closure of a final humanitarian border crossing into Syrian could cause "senseless cruelty" to millions of Syrians, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Friday, renewing a call for the U.N. Security Council to extend authorization for the delivery of cross-border humanitarian assistance.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the comments at the end of a three-day visit to Turkey, which included a trip to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing — the sole remaining access point for humanitarian aid to enter conflict-ravaged Syria.

A stroll in Pablo Picasso's footsteps in Montmartre; breathing in the scents of Provence; a walk along D-Day beaches: These and all of France's other attractions will again become easily accessible from next week to most foreign tourists -- if they are vaccinated.

France is putting itself back on the menu as a destination for international visitors who have had COVID-19 jabs. The government announced Friday that it is removing the need for coronavirus tests for vaccinated Europeans. It also is allowing vaccinated tourists from most of the rest of the world, including the United States, much of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North and central America to come back, if they have a negative test.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says it has recalled its Gaza director after he faced threats over remarks in which he appeared to praise Israel's "huge sophistication" in carrying out precision strikes during last month's Gaza war.

UNRWA, which provides essential health, education and other services in the territory, said late Thursday that it was "seriously concerned" about the threats, including a "very large protest" outside its Gaza headquarters on Monday.

A long-running campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem is still underway, even after it fueled weeks of unrest and helped ignite an 11-day Gaza war.

An intervention by Israel's attorney general at the height of the unrest has put the most imminent evictions on hold. But rights groups say evictions could still proceed in the coming months as international attention wanes, potentially igniting another round of bloodshed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents are pushing for a quick parliament vote to formally end his lengthy rule, hoping to head off any last-minute attempts to derail their newly announced coalition government.

The latest political maneuvering began just hours after opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, declared they had reached a deal to form a new government and muster a majority in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament.

President Michel Aoun was on Thursday meeting with Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and State Shura Council head Judge Fadi Elias after the Central Bank froze a circular allowing depositors to make use of their USD accounts at the LBP 3,900 rate.

Al-Jadeed TV reported that Aoun had made contacts overnight that led to the reversal of the bank’s decision and that the outcome would be announced after Thursday’s meeting in Baabda.

For months, Naftali Bennett vexed Israel's political establishment by refusing to say whether he and his Yamina party would get behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now the 49-year-old tech millionaire and former Netanyahu protege is poised to become his successor.

His rise to Israel's top job is a historic turn for the 73-year-old nation after four inconclusive elections and a brutal 11-day war with Hamas' militant rulers in the Gaza Strip. As a fragile truce held into its second week, Bennett finally announced his party would join with allies of centrist Yair Lapid to form a government.