Jordan's King Abdullah II met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday, in his first trip to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since 2017, Abbas's office said.

Abdullah's visit came as foreign ministers from four Arab countries and the US wrapped up a meeting which host Israel hailed as "historic", following a series of normalisation agreements last year which angered the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for Covid-19, his office said Monday, after he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Bennett, who met Blinken in Jerusalem on Sunday on the sidelines of a "historic summit" of Israeli and Arab diplomats, "is feeling well and will continue his schedule as planned from his home," a statement from his office said.

Also on Sunday Bennett visited the northern Israeli city of Hadera after gunmen shot dead two police officers in an attack claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group.

World champion Max Verstappen admitted he was relieved to secure his first win of the season after battling to a thrilling victory ahead of old rival Charles Leclerc in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Dutchman said it had been a difficult, but good race and it showed that this season’s title battle "will be super-close between the two of us" after he won by just half a second ahead of the Ferrari.

"It was a tricky one," said the Red Bull driver.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas criticised Sunday the West's "double standards" that he said penalised Russia over its invasion of Ukraine while ignoring Israel's "crimes" against the Palestinians.

Abbas voiced his frustration to visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a press briefing with reporters at the Palestinian presidential residence in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

"The current events in Europe have shown blatant double standards," he told Blinken.

Two police officers were shot dead in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the northern Israeli city of Hadera late Sunday as top US and Arab diplomats visited the Jewish state for an unprecedented regional meeting, authorities said.

Police said the two gunmen -- Israeli Arabs identified by Israeli intelligence as local IS operatives -- were killed by counterterrorism officers who happened to be nearby.

Independent candidates dominated the Palestinian local elections, winning 64 percent of seats, up from just 37 percent five years ago, according to official results released on Sunday.

But with established parties infiltrating independent lists, analysts were not immediately able to say how far the results from Saturday's vote truly amounted to more diverse representation.

The polls came after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called off last year's planned presidential and legislative elections, after Israel barred voting from taking place in annexed east Jerusalem.

War-torn Yemen faces an "extremely troubling outlook" after a serious escalation between Iran-backed Huthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, the head of the United Nations Development Programme warned on Sunday.

Achim Steiner, the UNDP's administrator, also told AFP the impoverished country is at risk of being "forgotten" as Russia's war on Ukraine grabs the world's attention.

"It is an extremely troubling outlook at the moment for the people of Yemen," Steiner said in an interview at the Doha Forum, when asked about the latest surge in hostilities.

The Libyan people want to end a decade of violence and elect a government, showing "zero appetite" for further conflict despite a renewed political standoff, the UN's top in-country official told AFP.

Speaking as concerns mount over the sustainability of a 17-month-old ceasefire, Stephanie Williams also insisted that deepening fractures, including a re-emergence of rival governments, can be "worked through".

"Most Libyans really want to put an end to 11 years of chaos, division and war -- and do so in a peaceful way by going to the ballot box," Williams said.

The Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes Sunday on Yemen hours after Huthi rebels announced a three-day truce, with the UN chief condemning a surge in violence as the war enters its eighth year.

The raids targeted Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, according to Saudi Arabia's Al Ekhbariya TV, which tweeted "the start of air strikes on Huthi camps and strongholds in Sanaa" at around midnight.

The US and Israel are committed to ensure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday, as the allies acknowledged differences over negotiations with Tehran.

Blinken made the comments in Jerusalem alongside his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, who told reporters Israel had "disagreements" with Washington about a possible deal to revive the 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran.