A Yemeni rebel attack on a Saudi oil plant set off a huge fire near Jeddah's Formula One circuit during televised practice sessions on Friday, part of a wave of assaults on Aramco facilities.

Smoke billowed near the circuit and the second practice was delayed in the attack, one of 16 drone-and-missile attacks by the Iran-backed rebels around the kingdom.

The wave of assaults comes ahead of the seventh anniversary of a Saudi-led coalition's military intervention against the rebels in Yemen, a country in the grip of a major humanitarian crisis.

Israelis and Palestinians braved wind and rain to hold a "peace conference" Friday by the Dead Sea bringing together two major women's movements from both sides for the first time.

Hundreds of activists from the Palestinian initiative "Women of the Sun" and Israeli movement "Women Wage Peace" shared in the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, planted flags on the Dead Sea's shore and vowed to carry on the push for peace despite the stagnation of political talks.

Yemeni rebels attacked a Saudi Aramco oil facility setting off a huge fire visible from Jeddah's Formula One track as part of a wave of attacks on Friday.

"We did several attacks with drones and ballistic missiles," the Iran-backed Huthi rebels said in a statement, including an "Aramco installation in Jeddah (and) vital installations in Riyadh".

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed rebels confirmed the attack, which comes ahead of the seventh anniversary of its military intervention in the brutal civil war in Yemen.

Voters cast ballots Saturday for municipal councils in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in a rare democratic exercise following a decade and a half of delays to Palestinian elections.

It was the second phase of municipal polls after a first round of voting in December in 154 West Bank villages.

Saturday's vote was held in 50 towns and cities, with many elections uncontested, or without any candidates in some cases.

Turnout was 52.8 percent, according to the Central Elections Commission.

Qatar has agreed to act as a mediator in Chad peace talks in a bid to unblock the fledgling process, officials and rebel groups said Friday.

Representatives of the government and more than 40 rebel and political opponents have been in Qatar for more than two weeks trying to launch negotiations that could lead to elections this year in the landlocked African state.

Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno promised change after seizing control following the death in April last year of his father, the country's longtime leader Idriss Deby Itno, in a battle with rebels.

Layla Ibrahim has cut down on her daily meat consumption, not because of a health fad but forced by Lebanon's bruising economic crisis.

"I used to eat a slice of meat, chicken or fish every day, but the prices of these items have become ridiculous," the 44-year-old mother of two told AFP.

"Out of necessity and not choice, I have almost become a vegetarian," she added.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis that the World Bank says is of a scale usually associated with full-scale wars.

Israel said it will host a "historic summit" from Sunday of top diplomats from the United States and three Arab states with which it has normalised ties.

"At the invitation of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, this upcoming Sunday and Monday... a historic diplomatic summit will be held in Israel," the foreign ministry said on Friday.

A series of meetings would be attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, it said, without giving further details.

Ukrainian athlete Valentyna Veretska, who fled Russia's invasion of her country and took refuge in Israel, on Friday won the Jerusalem marathon, race organisers said.

Veretska claimed the women's title with a time of 2hr 45min 54sec, clutching the Ukrainian and Israeli flags as she crossed the finish line.

The 31-year-old was one of around 40 Ukrainians who took part in the race in Jerusalem's Old City, braving unseasonably cold and wet weather.

It was her second win since October when she came first in the Tirana, Albania, marathon.

A giant diamond nicknamed "The Rock" went on display for the first time in Dubai on Friday ahead of an auction where it is expected to fetch over $30 million.

The 228.31-carat pear-shaped gem, which was mined and polished in South Africa more than 20 years ago, is the largest white diamond ever to come to auction, said Christie's.

After making its debut at the auction house's Dubai branch, where it will be displayed from March 26-29, The Rock will travel to Taipei, New York and Geneva, where it will be auctioned on May 11.

Western powers want Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to ease surging prices driven by the Ukraine war, but the kingdom has its own demand: support for its war in Yemen.

Seven years after a Saudi-led coalition launched its first air strikes against Yemen's Huthi rebels, the conflict in the Arab world's poorest country shows no signs of abating.

As oil prices soar due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Saudis have been pressed by Western countries to boost oil output in order to bring down prices.