Truce Talks Amid Rising Tensions

The signs of fresh truce talks come alongside Israeli preparations for a military push in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, and with spillover from the war leading to stepped-up exchanges of fire over Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

A delegation from Gaza war mediator Egypt arrived in Israel for a bid to reignite stalled ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Israeli and Egyptian media reported.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to find a ceasefire for the war in Gaza without success since a one-week halt to the fighting in November. That truce saw the exchange of 80 Israeli captives in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said  that Israel's war cabinet discussed a new plan for a truce and hostage release ahead of the Egyptian delegation's visit.

The war also ground on, with missiles fired from an Israeli jet striking Gaza City, killing at least three people in the Rimal neighborhood.

Top Arab and European officials are expected to hold talks about Gaza, including about a potential truce, in Saudi Arabia's capital.

Israel's government has vowed to send troops into Rafah, where most of Gaza's population is sheltering, but aid groups warn that an invasion would add to already catastrophic conditions in Gaza.

Israel has struck increasingly deeper into Lebanon, while the Hezbollah movement, based in Lebanon, has stepped up attacks on Israeli positions across the border.

The Israeli army said an Israeli civilian was killed by anti-tank missiles fired towards "the area of Har Dov", which refers to the disputed Shebaa Farms district.

Hezbollah said it had destroyed two Israeli vehicles in the Kfar Shouba hills overnight in a "complex ambush" on a convoy using missiles and artillery.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets around Shebaa village in southern Lebanon, as well as in Kfar Shuba and other areas.