Yemeni forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive on Wednesday to retake the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, despite U.N. warnings of a "catastrophic humanitarian impact."

Field commanders told AFP that troops pushed towards Hodeida airport after Yemeni pro-government forces received a "green light" from the coalition.

The United Nations General Assembly will vote Wednesday on condemning Israel for Palestinian deaths in Gaza in a resolution fiercely opposed by the United States, which wants Hamas to face condemnation. 

Every Friday since Mosul was prised from the Islamic State group's clutches last July, women gather in the Iraqi city's Al-Minassa Square, desperate to learn the fate of husbands and sons.

An air raid on a village in northeast Syria held by the Islamic State jihadist group killed at least 10 civilians including three children on Tuesday, a Britain-based monitor said.

Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar said Tuesday they are advancing rapidly on the eastern city of Derna, despite troops being hit by suicide attacks.

Haftar has vowed to "liberate" Derna, an Islamist stronghold that is home to more than 120,000 people and the only eastern city outside of his control.

Pro-government forces fighting Yemen's Huthi rebels are sending reinforcements towards the port of Hodeida, military sources said Tuesday, amid U.N. warnings against a high-stakes battle for the key aid gateway.

Two suicide bombers on Tuesday hit forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar who is leading an offensive against jihadists in an eastern town, a spokesman for his forces said.

Israeli police began evicting settlers from homes in a West Bank outpost on Tuesday ahead of a court deadline to leave structures partially built on Palestinian land, an AFP correspondent reported.

The Islamic State group may have lost most of its territory in Syria but recent deadly attacks against pro-regime fighters are a foretaste of more to come, analysts say.

Yemen's president is to hold talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as he attempts to repair relations with the United Arab Emirates, which has increasingly sidelined him in its three-year military intervention.