Yemen's rival parties are making military preparations and threatening to return to war as hunger and cholera are increasing in the Arab world's poorest nation, U.N. officials said Thursday.

U.N. special representative Hans Grundberg told the Security Council that despite serious efforts to shield Yemen, it has been drawn into the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with Houthi rebels continuing to attack ships in the Red Sea and the United States and United Kingdom responding with strikes on military targets in Houthi-controlled areas.

The smell of fuel wafts from storage tanks to Dovi Sonny's apartment -- a long-time irritant, and now a major worry after Hezbollah revealed that the facility in northern Israel was in its sights.

Sonny, 66, has no idea what would happen should a rocket hit one of the towering circular containers about 100 meters (yards) from his building in Haifa.

With Gaza largely in ruins after more than 10 months of war, the Hamas-run territory's health ministry has struggled to count the death toll, which on Thursday surpassed 40,000.

Israel has repeatedly questioned the credibility of the daily figures put out by the ministry and U.S. President Joe Biden did so too in the early stages of the war.

Two U.S. officials said the first day of Gaza talks in Doha was "very good" and that some progress was made, as another U.S. official called the discussions “constructive.”

Negotiators seeking a Gaza ceasefire were set to meet for a second day in Qatar on Friday, while top European diplomats were expected in Israel to stress the urgency of averting a wider war.

The on-and-off truce talks reconvened in Qatar's capital on Thursday without Hamas, which has accused Israel of obstructing a deal and insists on the implementation of previously agreed terms.

The White House said Thursday that Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar involving top U.S. officials had a "promising start" but that it did not expect to close a deal immediately.

Five influential Israeli rabbis have condemned Jewish prayers at annexed east Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, saying the holy site remains "strictly forbidden" to Jews after a visit by a far-right minister.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has met with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks on a ceasefire and peace, a day after a visit to Moscow.

Pressure built for a Gaza ceasefire to be agreed at talks set to resume Thursday in Qatar to avert a wider war involving Iran, after months of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday killed at least 17 people, including five children and their parents.

The latest strikes came on the eve of new talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in the 10-month-long war. The United States, Qatar and Egypt are hoping to broker an agreement, but the sides remain far apart on several issues even after months of indirect negotiations.