European diplomats attacked by Israeli rioters in West Bank

A surge of Iran-aligned Houthi missile strikes in Yemen has paralleled targeted violence by Israeli rioters against European diplomats in the occupied West Bank on Saturday. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio states the US is pressing Israel to do more to deter settler violence to prevent escalating tensions.

Houthis on Saturday released footage purportedly showing heavy ground battles between their fighters and Saudi-backed government forces in the desert in Jawf province north of Yemen.

The two sides began fighting in 2015 when Saudis entered Yemen's civil war on behalf of the internationally recognised government.

Their clashes renewed following the collapse of a truce brokered by the United Nations in July, as the militia claims imposing a blockade on Saudi Arabia and ramps up attacks on the kingdom's main airports.

The Saudi-led military coalition pledges to continue its air support for Yemeni government forces in a bid to repel recent Houthi gains near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Belgium's consul general, French and Polish diplomats as well as Catholic representatives were ambushed by a group of masked Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Taybeh.

The incident comes on a second day of assaults on Palestinians during the annual olive harvest.

Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot says a French mayor among the European delegation was hit and a Belgian diplomatic vehicle was damaged, but their team is safe. He links the attack to what he calls Israel's "illegal settlement policy" and urges further European Union sanctions.

While the foreign ministry in Tel Aviv expresses generic condemnation of the "severe acts of violence by Israeli vioters," the Israel Defense Forces says in a statement that the diplomats' tour was not coordinated with the military and that no IDF soldiers were present at the scene.

Israeli police announces launching an investigation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he's very disturbed by footage of Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine who was seriously injured in a similar raid on Friday, adding Washington has asked the Israeli government to "crack down on that stuff."

Rubio says he expects to hear back from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.

He says: "The president's been very clear. He said this repeatedly. He does not want to see friction or anything, a crisis going on in the West Bank."

Rubio adds, "He doesn't want to see a new spark. Well, we saw the reports about what happened yesterday. I don't have all the details. I only go off media reports. I know we've inquired with the embassy. You're supposed to get a cable back later today or tomorrow indicating exactly what they know about it. But from what I understand about media reports, it didn't look good."