Saudi Arabia on Friday intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen into the kingdom's south, as Riyadh and its allies said the attack "proved" Iran's support for Yemen's Huthi rebels.

The Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels in Yemen in a statement said Saudi air defenses intercepted the missile at around 0500 GMT, but reported no casualties. 

A South African tourist was killed and 12 other people were injured when a hot air balloon crashed near Egypt's ancient city of Luxor on Friday, a health ministry official said.

Female French jihadists arrested in Kurdish-held parts of Syria should face justice there so long as they can be guaranteed a fair trial, the French government said on Thursday.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has summoned a meeting of top Israeli planning officials for next week to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, his office said Thursday.

Syrian regime forces on Thursday battled to reach troops trapped in rebel bastion Eastern Ghouta, as a monitor said at least 28 civilians were killed in Russian and government bombardments.

Russia's defence ministry on Thursday said two servicemen were killed in a mortar attack by Islamist militants in Syria on New Year's Eve, but denied media reports seven military planes were destroyed. 

Israel's military said Thursday it was opening an investigation into the death of a wheelchair-bound Gazan man, with Palestinian officials saying he was shot by a sniper during clashes with Israeli forces.

At least 28 civilians have been killed by bombardment in the besieged Syrian opposition stronghold of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, most of them in Russian air raids, a monitor said.

Israeli air strikes targeted a site in the Gaza Strip overnight in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, with no injuries reported, the military and Gazan security sources said on Thursday.

Saudi-led air strikes have killed dozens of rebels and civilians in the past 24 hours in Yemen's flashpoint province of Hodeida, medical sources said on Thursday.